Hot News
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18 year old daughter allegedly raped multiple times by father
Thai media report that an 18 year old girl was raped multiple times over 8 years by her own father. The victim, identified only as “Mali,” filed a complaint with police in the northern province of Lamphun, just south of Chiang Mai, alleging that her 38 year old father ‘O’ had been raping her since she was 11 years old.…
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‘New normal’ seen in shopping malls across Bangkok
Part of the ‘new normal’, in times of Covid-19 in Thailand, involves redesigning traditional ways of doing things and changing daily life to stay safe and virus free. Today The Standard has revealed a few things that you might see in the near future. To minimise the risk of the spread of Covid-19 in elevators, engineers have created a new,…
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Chon Buri pedestrian dies in hit-and-run incident
A hit-and-run incident early this morning has left an unidentified male pedestrian, believed to be Thai, dead in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district. Police were notified of the incident at around 12:30am Authorities, emergency responders and The Pattaya News rushed to the scene to find the body of a man, believed to be Thai, estimated to be 35 -40 years old,…
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Temple closes to mark decade since redshirt crackdown
A Bangkok temple, where 6 people were shot and killed by the military during the 2010 “redshirt” political protests, has closed during the tragic event’s 10 year anniversary. A sign was put in front of Wat Pathum Wanaram saying it was closed for “disinfection,” according to Khaosod. But many see the significance of the closure relating to the events a…
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Thai Airways’ credit rating downgraded
The credit rating for Thai Airways will be downgraded before bankruptcy restructuring takes place. Tris Rating (Thai Rating and Information Services) has downgraded the company rating for Thai Airways and its rating for Thai Airway’s senior unsecured debentures from “BBB” to “C” while maintaining a negative Credit Alert. Following the government’s resolution yesterday it seems that the national carrier has…
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Ex high ranking Buddhist officials convicted of embezzling millions
5 former National Office of Buddhism officials, including a former chief, have been found guilty of stealing 21 million baht from the organisation back in 2015. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases convicted the 5 of embezzlement and sentenced them to prison. They are also required to repay 21 million baht to the NOB. The convicted were…
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Redshirts leader says “justice will never be served” over 2010 military crackdown
The leader of the “Redshirts”, political activists supportive of former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, says the military government will never be held to account for a 2010 crackdown that cost the lives of nearly 100 people, most of them civilians. His comments come just days after a spokesman for the Democrat Party, a member of the ruling coalition, claimed the…
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Most of Thailand placed on storm alert
As Thailand continues to feel the effects of cyclone Amphan, officials in Bangkok and 62 of Thailand’s 76 provinces have been ordered to monitor for possibilities of flash flooding and other impacts until tomorrow, according to director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. Authorities say 223 households in Nan, Lampang, Kalasin, Surin, Amnat Charoen, and Uthai Thani have already…
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Cabinet gives the green light for Thai Airways to file for bankruptcy
Today PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has announced that the Cabinet approved the proposal from the Ministry of Transport that Thai Airways can file for bankruptcy at the Central Bankruptcy Court in order to be rehabilitated under the Bankruptcy Act. “It was the best course to help the troubled airline back onto its feet. Under the rehabilitation plan, Thai Airways will not…
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“Amazing Trusted Thailand” – tourism rebrands
International tourists still can’t enter Thailand, so the country is using this time to rebrand their tourism promotions. The aim is to add some “trust” in regards to the country’s health profile with hopes that tourists will visit Thailand worry-free. Tourism is going from the “Amazing Thailand” brand to “Amazing Trusted Thailand.” The intention is that they want tourists to…
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Global recovery unlikely to happen next year – IMF
The head of the International Monetary Fund says the global economy is going to take longer than initially thought to recover fully from the shock caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus. She’s also warning against the danger of protectionism. Kristalina Georgieva says the Fund is likely to revise its forecast for a 3% contraction in GDP in 2020 downward, but gave…
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Hotels across Thailand angered by European tour group’s failure to pay up
Around 173 Thai hotels are appealing to the PM for help after a European tour group reneged on up to 2 billion baht in unpaid bills. Daily News reports that the TUI tour group has left hotels in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Surat Thani struggling with significant cash flow problems after trying to renegotiate its contract so that it would…
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Thai GDP drops nearly 2% in first quarter
The Thai economy’s slumped by nearly 2% year-on-year during Q1, 2020. In it’s full-year forecast, the National Economic and Social Development Council forecasts that the Thai GDP would drop 5-6% for the year. As a comparison, the economy tanked 7.6% during the 1997 financial crisis. The Gross Domestic Product in Q1 dropped by 1.8%, compared to a rise of 1.5% in the…
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Thai company steps up to ease condom shortage
A shortage of condoms is one thing. A shortage of condoms while people around the world are stuck at home is another. Since a top condom manufacturer in Malaysia halted production due to the coronavirus pandemic, a Thai company is now stepping up to fill the gap. Thai Nippon Rubber Industry, the country’s biggest condom manufacturer, is increasing production by…
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Global aviation in acute crisis
by Andrew J Wood “…by the end of May 2020 most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.” Global aviation has been battered and commercial scheduled air traffic remains mostly grounded as countries enforce their lockdowns and travel restrictions. There are few signs that the end is in sight. For the largest of carriers like IAG (British Airways), United, American…
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Registration steps for travel to or from Phuket
Although Phuket is still trying to maintain strict measures to control the spread of the Coronavirus and the island is still under a modified lock down. According to local Thai media you can apply to enter or leave the island with 2 methods of registration, Thai or foreigner. OPTION ONE. Departures from other provinces, travelling to Phuket, or people living…
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Phuket woman shot in her bed, ex-husband wanted
A young woman was shot at while she was asleep in her bed early yesterday morning in Thepkrasattri, central Thalang district. Her ex-husband is currently a prime suspect. 23 year old Duenphen Waree was targeted around 5:50am Sunday at her home in Thepkrasattri, Phuket, according to a report from Thalang Police. Waree’s mother woke up from the sound of 5 gun…
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Thailand’s Covid-19 numbers, 2 from Bangkok, one in Phuket
Today at his daily press conference, spokesperson Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin reported 3 new cases of the coronavirus in Thailand, bringing the total cases to 3,031. No additional deaths were recorded, leaving the accumulated toll at 56. Dr. Taweesilp reveals that of the new cases 3 cases reported, two were a man and a woman in Nonthaburi province (north west of capital)…
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Golden Triangle drug trade thrives during pandemic
The Golden Triangle is notorious for one thing. Drugs. And while the coronavirus pandemic is crippling businesses across Thailand, the drug industry around the Myanmar-Laos-Thailand border seems to be flourishing. Actually, really well. Production of synthetic drugs coming in from the Golden Triangle is hitting record highs, the Chiang Rai Times reports. Opium and heroin production in the Golden Triangle has…
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Government claims 2010 Bangkok protest crackdown was legal
A spokesman for Thailand’s Democrat Party, currently part of the ruling coalition, says former PM and party chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva did nothing wrong in ordering the 2010 military crackdown on protesters in Bangkok. Khaosod English reports that Ramet Rattanachaweng’s comments come as activists commemorated the 10 year anniversary of the crackdown, in which around 100 people died, by projecting an…
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Phi Phi’s Maya Bay won’t reopen until fully rehabilitated
Maya Bay, Krabi’s main tourist attraction since it was featured in the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio film ‘The Beach’, will remain closed as natural rehabilitation of the beach and bay continues, after vast areas of coral were destroyed by excess tourism and boat traffic. Indefinitely. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says that in future boats will not be allowed…
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Nakhon Si Thammarat gangster arrested over murder of wife’s lover
Police in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat have arrested a 32 year old local gangster and drug dealer for the murder of a 41 year old criminal associate last Tuesday. The incident took place in the evening, on the side of the road in the Klai sub-district of Tha Sala district. They identified the suspect as Sunathorn…
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Southern provinces face heavy rains from Cyclone Amphan
The Thai Meteorological Department said in its bulletin today that Thailand’s 6 southern provinces on the west coast, are expected to experience heavy rains, from tomorrow until Wednesday, due to the influence of developing Cyclone Amphan. While the storm won’t make landfall in Thailand, it is currently battering India as it barrels northward through the Bay of Bengal. “The cyclone…
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Pattaya motorbike taxi breaks through curfew checkpoint – VIDEO
A motorbike taxi in Pattaya broke through a police curfew checkpoint at around 10:30pm Friday. Though the curfew has now been adjusted to 11pm, at the time both the driver and his foreign passenger were in violation. The incident led to a police chase that was caught on video: Officers pursued the pair before arresting them on Sukhumwit Road. They…
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Unidentified foreigner arrested in Nonthaburi drug sting
77kaoded reports that police in Nonthaburi conducted a drug sting at a petrol station on Tiwanon Road late last week. They arranged to buy 20 grams of cocaine for 100,000 baht from a foreigner identified only as “Mike”, who arrived on a Yamaha motorbike. But as officers revealed themselves outside the petrol station toilets Mike realised his situation and ran off.…
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Bangkok sting results in seizure of 221 kilograms of marijuana
Talk about being left holding the bag… police in Bangkok’s Nongjok district confiscated bricks of dried marijuana weighing 221 kilograms on Friday. According to officers at the Lam Phak She Police Station, officers, the raid was a followup to a sting operation that resulted in in the arrest of 46 year old Manop Buakareem, who had delivered a kilogram of…
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Bangkok City Hall allows 10 more types of business to reopen
The Bangkok Municipal Administration, aka. City Hall confirms that more businesses in the city will be allowed to reopen today, including most shops at malls, in keeping with the second phase of the nationwide relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions. A BMA spokesman says its communicable disease control committee had eased restrictions on 10 business types. The businesses allowed to reopen are……
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PM looks for an exit from the Emergency Decree
Deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam says that PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha is ordering an in-depth comparison of the legal measures that can be used to control Covid-19 if the government revokes the state of emergency. The Emergency Decree, issued back on March 24, gave the PM and the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration extraordinary powers – implementing curfews, travel restrictions, restricting provincial governors…
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Thai PM thanks the 20 billionaires for their support during crisis
The Thai PM has offered his “heartfelt thanks” to a list of Thai billionaires he wrote to a month ago seeking their guidance and ideas at the height of the Thai outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. He thanked them in a Facebook post and commented on their willingness to “offer a helping hand”. “All of them had responded energetically to my…
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Ban on international travel into Thailand extended until June 30
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has today announced an extension of their current ban on international travel another month, until at least the end of June, 2020. The current ban on scheduled international flights was extended last month to cover May, up to May 31. But now the CAAT have announced the extension for at least another month. There…
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