Hot News
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Sponsored Common health concerns for expats in Thailand: Prevention and protection
Moving to Thailand as an expat offers adventure, vibrant culture, and an excellent lifestyle, but it also brings some health challenges that might not be familiar to you. From tropical diseases to climate-related conditions, understanding common health concerns and knowing...
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301 injured and 47 deaths on Day 2 of Songkran – Seven Deadly Days
On Tuesday, the second day of the “Seven Deadly Days” of the Songkran break, there were 301 road accidents, resulting in 47 deaths and 292 injuries. Accidents are still caused by drink driving and speeding. 84% of the accidents occurred on straight roads. Motorcycles and pick-up trucks were involved in the majority of the accidents, 80%, and 10% respectively, about…
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More than 180 trains added during Thailand’s Songkran holiday
The Thai State Railway has added over 180 trains during the Songkran holidays, and will run through to April 17. 45,000 travellers are predicted to board the trains from Hua Lamphong in Bangkok on the first day of Songkran. The old Hu Lamphong train station has been kept running since plans to move all train services to Bang Sue, the…
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Thai government to control inflation prices for consumer products
As the Thai government attempts to control inflation, the PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says that there must be no shortages of consumer products or outages, and the prices must not be too expensive. The world wide inflation problems have been created by government’s artificially over-heating economies with quantitative easing rising energy and commodity prices and exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.…
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80 year old woman dies after falling from the seventh floor of a hospital
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, an 80 year old woman has died after falling from her room on the seventh floor of a hospital where she was being treated for Covid-19. She was taken to the emergency room but it was too late. The incident happened at the Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat last Monday.…
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Scam bam thank you mam! Thai PBS anchor scammed out of 1 million baht.
A Thai PBS TV anchor is the latest high-profile victim of phone scammers in Thailand. Thai PBS is a government-owned public broadcaster. Pattima Komolbawonkul posted on her Facebook that she had lost 1 million baht through a phone scam. She claims that the scammer posed as a Thai police officer from the Ranong police (just north of Phang Nga province).…
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Bangkok gets the Sht Holiday treatment (their spelling, not ours)
Sht holidays has blessed us with their withering review of the Thai capital. Some may wonder where exactly they visited when they cobbled together this unpleasant collection of Bangkok sex-tourism clichés. The Sht Holidays Facebook page only has 41,763 followers but does the same for tourism around the world as Rotten Tomatoes does for film-reviews. Clearly rather cynical ‘Aussie’ humour,…
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Thai rapper ‘Elevenfinger’ suspected of bombing PM Prayut’s residence
A political rapper known as “Elevenfinger” has become the main suspect in the bombing that happened at Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha’s residence on Sunday. The rapper was pictured with the group of motorcyclists who approached the gates of the PM’s residence and threw a bomb, which exploded on the lawn opposite the house. The rapper was arrested today…
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Deputy PM’s illegal Songkran banners removed by highway officers on ‘Road to Isaan’
Thailand highway officers in the central province of Saraburi have been busy removing Songkran holiday banners from Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan on Tuesday. The officers said the banners, adorned with the smiley face of the 76 year old Deputy PM and party powerbroker, were not approved to be installed along the roadside and might annoy drivers and cause accidents. Aside…
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Drink driving claims 70% of traffic violations at start of Songkran’s ‘7 Dangerous Days’
The Department of Probation is releasing its statistics for the first day of driving violations administered by the court during the “Seven Dangerous Days of Songkran” from April 11 – 17. On Monday, the court issued 459 fines, 328 of which were for drink driving cases. The top three provinces with the most drunken drivers were Nonthaburi, Ubon Ratchathani and…
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5 Thailand expressways waive tolls for motorists during Songkran holiday
Five expressways in Thailand will waive their tolls during the Songkran holiday, in order to encourage domestic tourism by helping people save money and speed up travel times back to their home provinces. From April 12 to April 18, the Bang Na-Chon Buri and Bang Phli-Suksawat expressways will be free of charge. The Chalerm Maha Nakhon, Si Rat and Udon…
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Floods cause mass buffalo starvation at Thale Noi park in southern Thailand
More than 200 dead water buffaloes have been found floating today at the Thale Noi Waterfowl Park in the southern Thai province of Pattalung. Prolonged flooding in the region had destroyed the grasses that the buffalo rely on for food. Without it, they starved to death. Local authorities quickly rescued another 300 buffaloes, giving them dry grass and supplementary food…
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Nok Air requests operational fee waivers to help restart Betong flights
I just need a little help from my friends. That’s the song Thailand budget airline Nok Air is singing, as it calls for additional support to cover its operational costs, in order to continue servicing its Betong and Nakhom Ratchasima flights. The news comes just days after the beleaguered airline signed a memorandum of understanding with local tourism agencies to…
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Thailand’s DDC to reduce quarantine for high-risk cases from 7 days after Songkran
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, or DDC, has agreed to reduce the quarantine period for people residing in the kingdom who are at “high-risk” of infection after being in contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19. Starting after the Songkran festival, the quarantine period for high-risk people in Thailand will be reduced from 7 days to “5+5” days. This means those…
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UPDATE: Bangkok airport claims Test & Go crowding was temporary, problem already fixed
Suvarnabhumi International Airport has responded to the complaint from a Thai YouTuber about the seemingly chaotic crowds of international travellers arriving under the Test & Go entry scheme on Sunday. He said that people coming into the arrivals hall didn’t know where to go, couldn’t find their hotel transport, the awaiting hotel shuttles were randomly crowded behind barriers and it…
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You can grow ‘as many cannabis plants as you like’ in Thai homes from June 9, but…
People in Thailand will be allowed to grow “as many cannabis plants” as they like in their own homes from June 9, according to Thailand’s health minister and medical marijuana pioneer Anutin Charnvirakul. However… if you don’t read the fine print you can still get into trouble with the law. As usual, the fine print is confusing. Bottomline, don’t be…
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Opposition leader Thanathorn indicted for lèse majesté, says he’s political target
Public prosecutors in Thailand have indicted Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit on a lèse majesté charge and for violating the Computer Crime Act on Monday. The charges centre on remarks he made during a livestream talk he gave last year, in which he discussed the government’s procurement of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and allegedly casting indirect suspicion on His Majesty the…
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Nok Air resumes Bangkok-Betong route, partners with allies to fill charter flights
If at first you don’t succeed, try again — with a few more friends. That’s the message from Thailand budget airline Nok Air, which is teaming up with a handful of tourism industry partners in a renewed bid to provide charter flights from Bangkok to the recently opened Betong airport in Yala province in the south. Beginning on April 29,…
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Songkran travellers can enjoy FREE parking at Suvarnabhumi airport from April 11-17
There’s good news for those flying out of Bangkok during the Thai New Year. You can now park your car at Suvarnabhumi Airport Zone C for FREE during the entire Songkran period, as the parking fees are being scrapped from April 11 to April 17. Zone C is zoned for long term parking and has 700 parking spaces. Airport authorities…
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Thailand police seize huge quantities of illicit drugs from 120,000+ suspects in 6 months
Thailand’s drug busts have continued hauling in billions of baht in confiscated assets for this fiscal year, while arrests of “drug suspects” — though still in the six-digits range — have reduced roughly 40 percent. That’s the gist of a report from the deputy national police chief, Roy Inkhapairoj, who presented the figures at a press briefing on Sunday, after…
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Bomb thrown at PM Prayut’s house, protesters burn coffin decorated with his image
Yesterday, a teenager threw a “ping pong” bomb at Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s house. On the same day, a mob of “Red Shirt” protesters took to the streets of Bangkok to burn a coffin adorned with pictures of PM Prayut’s face. Yesterday’s protests were to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the 2010 Red Shirt protests, where 90 people died…
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Songkran a litmus test for Thailand’s economic recovery, tourism industry revival
As Thailand’s annual Songkran festival begins this week, all eyes are on the government to see how its strict Covid-prevention measures will affect tourism spending and mitigate new infections, which are expected to spike after the holiday. As the war in Ukraine continues to hike up global oil and food prices, pundits say how Thailand fares during and after the…
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Russian tourism staff claims interest in Thailand travel has spiked for Russians
More Russians are reportedly interested in venturing down to Thailand. After Russia announced earlier this week it would lift Covid-19 restrictions on flights to 52 countries, starting April 9, some Russian tourism staff claim there was a massive increase in Thailand search inquiries by Russians. Searches for tickets to Thailand reportedly went up by 20%, according to one popular vacation…
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Unsafe levels of smog and smoke blanket Bangkok – VIDEO
Unsafe levels of PM2.5 ‘particulate’ cloud Bangkok and surrounding areas today. Phasi Charoen district, on the western side of the Chao Phraya, is the worst affected area, while other dangerous areas include: Phutthamonthon 1 Road in Taling Chan district, Lat Krabang Road in Lat Krabang district, Hirunrujee Road in Thon Buri district, and Charoen Nakhon Road in Khlong San district.…
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With splash parties banned, Thais celebrate Songkran with characters on chat app
With traditional Songkran water fights banned in Thailand due to Covid-19, Thais are now “celebrating” the holiday with avatars on a chat app. The ONESIAM x Zepeto Metaverse Songkran Festival 2022 is a collaboration between property giant Siam Piwat, and the Zepeto chat app. Would-be Songkran revellers who are customers of Siam Piwat malls can download Zepeto. Users can then…
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South Korea is the most expensive country to raise kids
South Korea is the most expensive country in the world to raise children from birth to age 18, according to research from Jefferies Financial Group. On the list of 14 countries Jefferies researched, South Korea is followed by China, then Italy. Jefferies’s analysts reported some differences between Asian and Western cultures that might be a factor in South Korea and…
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Pakistan’s Imran Khan ousted from PM position
Following a parliamentary vote of no confidence last week, Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan has been ousted. The vote came after Pakistan’s opposition parties accused Khan of economic mismanagement, as well as poor governance. The country’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a decision to block the no confidence vote was unconstitutional. Now, Khan claims that opposition to him is backed…
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Phuket’s Vanderbilt Estate opens for local charity
The financial impact of Covid has been felt all around the world, with charities hit the hardest. Phuket Has Been Good To Us, who teach English for free to disadvantaged Thai children, is no exception. Desperately in need of funds, they were hugely thankful when friends of the Foundation Mohan Murjani and Sukanya Panyalert (Khun Yui) offered to open the…
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Thailand’s Ministry of Interior urges tight Covid enforcement during Songkran
The Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Interior is calling on provincial governors to “rigidly enforce Covid-19 restrictions” during the looming Songkran annual break. The Permanent Secretary, Suthipong Julcharoe, also suggested 10 “Universal Prevention” methods. These include frequent handwashing and not touching your face, as well as vulnerable groups staying at home. Suthipong also suggested “double masking” (wearing 2 face…
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Thailand tourism authorities target India to offset lack of Chinese tourists
A deputy governor of marketing from the Tourism Authority of Thailand says Indian tourists are important for offsetting the loss of Chinese tourists in Thailand, as the TAT aims to attract 500,000 Indian tourists this year. The marketing governor said ever since an air travel bubble started with India last month, Thailand has already seen around 600 Indian arrivals per…
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Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand may only have to take ATK tests
Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand may take antigen tests on arrival, instead of PCR tests. Thailand’s CCSA announced yesterday that it will hold off on adjusting the current entry restrictions for foreign travellers to Thailand until it can evaluate the effects of next week’s Songkran festival, as it continues monitoring the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Thailand’s…
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