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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Air quality for Thailand – February 14
Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to…
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New electric ferries to ply the ‘Venice of the East’ in Bangkok
by Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn A 1 billion baht project is under consideration to transform Bangkok into the “Venice of the East” (again?) and help ease the city’s air pollution problems. The project for electric-powered ferries to ply the Chao Phraya is backed by Energy Absolute, a Thai alternative energy technology provider, which yesterday said it will work with the Marine Department…
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The day that shook Thai politics
OPINION It was just another Friday except that it was also the final day that political parties were able to nominate MPs for the March 24 elections. And their proposed candidates for the role of the a Prime Minister following the election. PM Prayuth Chan-ocha would announce his candidacy sometime during the morning, the worst kept secret in Thai politics.…
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Chiang Mai and Bangkok blanketed under Wednesday air pollution and smog
Chiang Mai, and other north Thailand regions, are getting blanketed in dangerous smoke, haze and smog again today. For the capital, the poor air quality that ignited public response for January, has returned. The Pollution Control Department is urging people, including schoolchildren, to refrain from outdoor activities and to wear facemasks outside, while small children and the elderly, pregnant and…
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Chiang Mai: Third worst air-pollution in the world
Chiang Mai scored an unwanted podium position yesterday when it was ranked third on the global list of cities with the worst air pollution. Chiang Mai’s AQI (Air Quality Index) score stood at 194 a level considered “unhealthy” yesterday. Any figure beyond 200 is ‘very unhealthy’. On Saturday, Khon Kaen reached 210 on the AQI scale. Chiang Mai’s severe air…
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Air quality for Thailand – February 13
Central Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Southern Thailand It is a great day to be active outside.
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169 million plastic bags unused at 7-eleven stores in two months
More than 169 million plastic bags have been left unused at Thailand’s 7-eleven stores in the past two months – more than 33 million baht value alone but also a huge amount of single-use plastic not making its way into the environment. CP All Public Company, the sole operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, announced its intention to reduce…
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AIR POLLUTION: Air quality for Thailand – February 12
Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Southern Thailand It is a great day to…
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Air pollution rise in northern Thailand attributed to 149 controlled forest fires
PHOTO: The Nation Concern grows as the air pollution problem in the North and North-east regions of Thailand threatens to affect the health of the public. Phrae (northern Thailand) was the worst affected area in Thailand on Monday morning with the PM2.5 reaching 102 micrograms per cubic metre and the Air Quality Index (AQI) level of 212, while PM10 hit 132…
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Air quality for Thailand – February 11
Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for…
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EC meets tomorrow to discuss Thai Raksa Chart’s controversial PM nomination
The Election Commission is expected to meet tomorrow (Monday) to deliberate the Thai Raksa Chart party’s future following their nomination of Princess Ubolratana as a prime ministerial candidate in the March 24 election. But the EC’s secretary-general, Jarungvith Phumma, has declined to comment on the matter when asked about the party’s surprise Friday PM candidate, saying only that “all issues would…
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Haze and air pollution returns to Bangkok this week
Air pollution around the Thai capital is expected to get worse again this week with an increase in the level of PM2.5 dust particles. A high pressure cell over the central region is forecast and will degrade the air around Bangkok between February 13-15, according to the Meteorological Department. Temperatures will also drop slightly in the Central and Northern regions this week. The…
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“I wish you all good luck and happiness” – Princess Ubolratana posts on Instagram
PHOTO: The four children of King Bhumibol, Rama 9 Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, elder sister to the Thai King, has posted a message on her Instagram account this morning thanking Thais for their love and support. The sister of His Majesty the King posted the message shortly after 6am. His Majesty prohibited her from standing in the upcoming election…
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Thai Raksa Chart Party cancels China Town campaign launch today
The Thai Raksa Chart Party has cancelled plans today to launch their election campaign in Bangkok’s China Town. This follows a dramatic day yesterday when the party dropped a political bombshell by announcing that Princess Ubolratana was the party’s sole candidate for prime minister. Thai Raksa Chart leader Preechaphol Pongpanit stunned the media when he submitted the name of Princess…
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Pattaya housing project shuffles the garbage around but annoys neighbors
A housing project in East Pattaya is generating so much rubbish it is causing a major annoyance to local residents. The construction co-ordinators have tried to move the garbage area of the site several times. But wherever they move the rubbish, it remains a problem for surrounding communities. The Pattaya Mail reports that Boontem Yikeng, director of the Nernplabwan Government…
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Pattaya authorities mobilise to fix air pollution problems
Pattaya City officials are mobilising their departments to fight the region’s smog woes. Air pollution has plagued the Chon Buri province, along with Bangkok over recent months. City Manager Chanatpong Sriviset chaired a special meeting last week to recap efforts taken over the prvious two weeks to combat the PM2.5 micron problem. The so-called PM2.5 is considered hazardous if more…
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“Princess cannot run for office” – King of Thailand
After a dramatic day in Thai politics yesterday, where the Thai Raksa Chart Party dropped a bombshell into the election campaign by nominating Princess Ubolratana, the King’s eldest sister, as a prime ministerial candidate, the drama continued last night with a statement from HM The King. The Thai monarch issued a strongly-worded statement around 11pm, prohibiting his older sister Princess Ubolratana…
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Election 2019: A challenge to the Princess’ nomination
PHOTO: The announcement this morning by the Thai Raksa Chart Party threw a political bombshell into the campaign – The Nation A leader of the People’s Reform Party has put in an urgent request for the Election Commission to rule whether the nomination of His Majesty the King’s eldest sister as a candidate for prime minister in the forthcoming election…
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“Compassion for the people” Thai Raksa Chart of Princess Ubolratana
The sister of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn is now seen as a leading prime ministerial candidate for a political party loyal to fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra in the March 24 elections. The Thai Raksa Chart party dropped the political bombshell this morning. 67 year old Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Varnavadi broke a long-standing tradition of Thai royalty staying out of…
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Prayut puts himself up as PM candidate in the March 24 Thai election
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has formally accepted an invitation to stand as prime minister candidate for the Palang Pracharath Party. The announcement has been expected for weeks. Gen Prayut, head of the NCPO, and PM since the 2014 coup announced his decision in a message to the Thai this morning. He made a plea for the ‘status quo’ saying that…
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Princess Ubolratana Mahidol runs as Prime Ministerial candidate in election
PHOTOS: Instagram In a stunning political move, Princess Ubolratana Mahidol, the eldest child of the late King Bhumibol, Rama 9, has been nominated by the Thai Raksa Chart party. Her nomination as a Prime Ministerial candidate immediately places the plans of current PM and the Junta-leaning Palang Pracharat party into disarray. To paint this as an ‘upset’ move in the last day of…
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Seven drug busts net 10 million meth pills, 4 kg of heroin
The more drugs police intercept, the more that pours across the borders. The Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau have reported on seven drug busts that netted 10 suspects and the confiscation of 10 million methamphetamine pills and nearly four kilograms of heroin. The NSB also seized other illicit drugs including crystal meth or “ice”, ecstasy pills and cocaine. Separate searches in…
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Thai PM enacts his Article 44 powers to suspend cannabis patents
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has stepped in amid growing controversy over patents for medical marijuana. Critics of the process complain that the high number of patent applications from abroad shows that foreign pharmaceutical corporations were already trying to monopolise Thailand’s fledgling medical-marijuana business. The NCPO leader has used his Article 44 powers to authorise suspension of the current patent applications…
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Australian and Thai transnational drug smugglers drop the ball
PHOTO: The Nation How much heroin can you smuggle in eight (car) shock absorbers? Apparently close to 4 kilograms. A joint Thai-Australian drug suppression operation called Taskforce Storm has yielded results and arrested two transnational heroin smugglers. Police identified the two as 38 year old Canadian Stephens Blair and 27 year old Thai Pahon Sivasirikaroon. The pair were apprehended when they…
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Phuket house keeper keeps 2,600 meth pills and 3kg of marijuana at house in Rawai
A Rawai house keeper has been arrested with 2,600 methamphetamine pills and three kilograms of marijuana. A team of Border Patrol Police has arrested 47 year old Wanlee ‘Mai’ Eiadkerd. Police seized 2,600 methamphetamine pills and three kilograms of marijuana inside a house in Rawai. The arrest follows police first arresting a Thai woman with methamphetamine pills in Chalong. She told…
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Medical cannabis crops to be tightly controlled
The Thai narcotic control board head says that only Thai citizens who join hands with the government will be allowed to cultivate medical cannabis. The board yesterday stressed that growers of the potentially lucrative crop must be cooperatives, community enterprises or social enterprises made up of citizens – and not private companies. Their business will be under the scrutiny of…
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English teacher arrested after inner city organic marijuana farm raid
A 46 year old English language teacher has been arrested for allegedly operating an organic marijuana farm and selling the produce online. He was arrested today after a raid on a four level building in Bangkok’s Phayathai inner city district. Police say that on the third floor of the building, officers found five litres of cannabis oil, 50 plastic pots…
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Thailand’s new highlands – unravelling the new ‘cannabis’ legislation
by Voice of America Thailand has become the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise medical marijuana, but the fine print of the legislation has left advocates of the drug’s healing potential with mixed feelings. Since the bill was passed on Christmas Eve, some medical marijuana advocates have expressed disappointment the legislation will effectively exclude the private sector from the…
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Thailand approves medical marijuana
CNN reports… Thailand’s interim parliament voted to allow the use of medical cannabis. Recreational use of the drug remains illegal. Lawmaker Somchai Sawangkarn says the passing of an amendment to allow medical marijuana in the country “could be considered as a New Year gift to Thais.” “The amendment (on the Narcotics Bill) was passed on the second and third readings…
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Medical marijuana is now legal in Thailand
• Possession of marijuana and krathom within legal limits will be allowed for treatment of certain diseases, for first aid or in cases of emergency •The committee has the authority to give permission to requests for production, import and export of marijuana A new law that legitimises the use of marijuana for medical purposes has sailed through the National Legislative Assembly…
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