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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Thailand’s DDC stops reporting positive ATK results
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has stopped reporting Covid-19 infections with ATK tests. A spokesperson for the CCSA said that tomorrow, another proposal for changes in Covid-19 reporting will be submitted to the meeting of the Public Health Ministry’s Emergency Operations Centre. The proposal states that, starting June 1, the DDC will only report cases that require hospitalisation. The spokesperson, Dr.…
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Train hits car, killing young girl in South Thailand
A train hit a car at a railway crossing with no barriers in South Thailand’s Chumphon province yesterday. The crash killed 16 year old Piyamat Nilsuk, and injured her brother, 19 year old Payungsak Nilsuk. Police arrived on the scene to find Piyamat and Payungsak’s car badly wrecked, after the crash had made it turn over several times until it…
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Thailand tourism, innovate or die – OPINION
Red flags are flying in Thai tourism circles as the expected wave of international travellers is failing to materialise in the expected numbers. With the post-April 1 and Songkran ‘surge’ out of the way, the daily arrivals have been ‘flat’. So the TAT say they’re pivoting their marketing to short-haul tourism as the long-haul markets and traditional travellers to Thailand…
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Storms rip through areas of Phuket, including food festival
Even the weather is conspiring against Thailand’s tourism recovery. As the annual monsoon season settles in, areas of Phuket have been damaged by storms yesterday, overnight, and into today. A series of wind squalls, preceding heavy rain, hit parts of the tourist island. One of the spots hit by some sudden wind blasts yesterday was the Kata Karon Food Festival…
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Anutin says suspected monkeypox cases in Thailand were herpes
Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin announced yesterday that suspected monkeypox cases in Thailand turned out to be herpes. The suspected cases were from travellers coming from countries where monkeypox cases have been reported. Anutin said there are so far no confirmed cases of monkeypox in Thailand. Some of the herpes viruses can also present with similar symptoms, including the lesions…
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Soldiers in Chiang Rai shoot and kill 8 drug suspects who reportedly opened fire
Soldiers in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai have shot and killed 8 suspects who reportedly opened fire on them along the Thai-Burmese border last night. The soldiers had been warned that a gang would try to smuggle drugs from Myanmar, according to Thai media. They then went to patrol the border area in Mae Fa Luang district. Later, they…
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Thailand’s nightlife can officially open from Wednesday but this will be too late for many businesses
Warnings yesterday from the Thai government health officials as they urge business operators of Thailand’s nightlife – bars, karaoke bars, clubs and the larger massage premises – to “follow strict precautions” against Covid when they re-open next month. That’s next Wednesday. We’ll get back to the absurdity of that warning a bit later. 31 Thai provinces, 14 now reclassified as…
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10 Thailand-Laos bus routes starting June 15
Starting next month, bus travel enthusiasts in Thailand will have 10 bus route options options in Laos. One of the Thailand-Laos bus routes began earlier this month, from Mukdahan to Savannakhet. Now, the president of Transport Co Ltd, Sanyalux Panwattanalikit, has listed 9 new Thailand-Laos routes starting June 15. The new routes will be: Nong Khai to Vientiane, Udon Thani…
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Prosecutors to delay indictments of suspects in Thailand’s Tangmo case
Prosecutors are delaying the indictment of the 6 suspects facing charges in the now infamous drowning of Thai actress Nida Patcharaveerapong, or ‘Tangmo’, until the end of June. Tangmo’s body was found in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river in February after she had been on a boat trip with 5 of the suspects. The details the suspects provided on how Tangmo…
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Bangkok’s first ‘real’ Pride parade coming up June 5
Pride month is approaching cities across the globe, including Bangkok! On June 5, the city is expected to host its first ‘real’ pride parade. Feminist activist Siri “Tata” Nilphruek said at a press conference yesterday that in the past, Bangkok’s pride parades were just street demonstrations. But this year, the organisers hope to make pride parade “an imporant event on…
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Almost 200 cases of monkeypox reported across the globe, according to WHO
After an outbreak of monkeypox, a viral infection similar to smallpox, began last week, almost 200 cases have been reported across more than 20 countries, according to the World Health Organisation. The Associated Press noted that this number seems likely an undercount, though. Meanwhile, various health professionals and officials continue to dispute the cause of the virus. Doctors in the UK,…
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Smoking cannabis recreationally is still illegal, warns Department of Public Health
Cannabis smoke is a “public nuisance” and smoking it recreationally – at home or in public – is illegal, warns Thailand’s Department of Public Health. From June 9, growing cannabis plants at home will become legal, but smoking cannabis recreationally will remain a punishable offence. The only prerequisite to legally growing cannabis at home, from June 9, is downloading and…
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The WHO insist monkeypox is not “a gay disease’
World Health Organisation officials Monday revealed the outbreak of the monkeypox virus in Europe and the US “is primarily spreading through sex among men with around 200 confirmed and suspected cases across a dozen countries.” But today the WHO insist that the disease isn’t just isolated to one community. Andy Seale, from the WHO’s Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and…
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Soi Dog Foundation and DNP rescues monkey chained up for 2 years in Phuket
Sandy the macaque, a former working monkey, has been given a fresh start in life after a heartbreaking two years of being chained up to a cage in Rawai subdistrict, Phuket. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sandy worked in an elephant camp. The camp closed down over two years ago, and Sandy was chained up ever since, until today. Two expats,…
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Student hit by motorbike on zebra crossing in front of school in Trang
A female student has been hit by a motorbike while crossing the road at a zebra crossing with a group of friends and teachers in front of a school in the southern province of Trang. The motorbike rider stopped only a minute to check that the young girl was OK then immediately drove away. The dashcam video of the student…
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Phuket thief steals 1,000 baht from elderly woman
A thief in Phuket who stole 1,000 baht from an elderly woman last week was caught yesterday. The victim’s granddaughter said the thief stole the money from a jar on a table at the elderly woman’s home in Phuket’s main city district. Police tracked down the thief, who they so far have only named as “Ms. Davika”, 9 days after…
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Gambling suspects arrested at northeast Thailand resort
Police arrested 18 gambling suspects at a resort in Thailand’s northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday. The suspects reportedly used all 10 rooms of the Lake Pine resort to operate 2 gambling websites. Officers seized 10 desktop computers, 5 notebook computers, 30 mobile phones, and 12 bank account books, according to Police Colonel Wiwat Jitsophakul from the Crime Suppression Division.…
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Japan provides the key to open Thai EV door
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says Japan holds the key to Thailand becoming world’s largest electric vehicle production hub. The Thai PM yesterday told the 27th International Conference on the Future of Asia, organized by Nikkei Inc, in Tokyo, that with Japan’s support and investment Thailand could realise its EV dream. The 68 year old revealed plans to upgrade the country’s digital…
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Police pickup crashes into motorbike, one teenager dead and another seriously injured
One teenager is dead, and another is seriously injured after a car accident in Pathum Thani province near Bangkok. The victims’ friends claimed that a police pickup was chasing after them and “intentionally” crashed into the victims’ motorbike, causing them to lose control and hit a guard rail. Last night, at 12.30 am, police officers from the Lad Lum Kaew…
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Restaurant in northern Thailand promises to sell 3 baht noodles despite inflation
A restaurant in the northern province of Chiang Mai promises to keep serving 3 baht noodles, despite the cost of ingredients being higher than ever. The restaurant’s owner Thawat Pirata said he hasn’t increased the price of noodles in 34 years and doesn’t plan to. The 64 year old owner of noodle shop Kway Teow Sam Baht – or “3…
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“Mega rich” Bangkok father and daughter arrested in Bahrain trafficking case
Two members of a wealthy Bangkok family were arrested on warrants for human trafficking earlier this week. The father and daughter, 54 year old Wiraya and 37 year old Wachi, allegedly started recruiting women to work in Bahrain in 2015, saying they would give traditional Thai massages. Instead, the women were forced into sex slavery. Some of the women escaped,…
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Thailand and Malaysia strengthen bilateral ties in bid to quell insurgency
Thailand and Malaysia have strengthened bilateral ties in a bid to bring peace to Thailand’s deep south. Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich confirmed Malaysia will continue to support efforts to negotiate peace with insurgent groups in the deep South, principally the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani which share borders with Malaysia. Lt Gen Kongcheep revealed Deputy PM…
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Murder-suicide in north east Thailand
A man has shot his pregnant stepdaughter dead and then committed suicide at a house in the northeastern province of Buriram. The stepdaughter had just married her husband 7 days before the incident. Relatives have refused to provide additional details to the media at this stage. Yesterday, an emergency team from Hin Lek Fire Police Station was called to a…
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Slow loris dies from electric shock in southern Thailand
A slow loris climbed up a broken communication cable and died from electric shock this morning in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province, southern Thailand. Residents say it is the third slow loris to climb up the cable and die from electric shock. Locals say a fire caused some of the electric wire to become exposed, presenting a risk to animals…
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Governor to drain the swamp with Bangkok’s criminal fraternity
Chadchart Sittipunt made over 200 pledges prior to his landslide election victory last Sunday with the economy, environment, and health, high on his list of priorities. And when the Bangkok governor-elect vowed to clean up the metropolis, he wasn’t kidding. The 56 year old’s four-year term as governor began in earnest this week and, his agreement to use criminals to…
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Phuket thief allegedly stole more than 30 times, said he needed gaming money
A Phuket thief allegedly stole more than 30 times in 2 months, and said he needed the money to play online video games and for his living, according to Phuket City Police Chief Colonel Sarawut Chooprasit. Sarawut told The Phuket Express that police had arrested the thief on Wednesday after he broke into a ‘restaurant’ and stole cash. Sarawut said that later,…
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Man threatens PM Prayut’s daughters on Twitter, sentenced to 5 years in prison
A man who posted a threatening message on Twitter aimed at the twin daughters of Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with no parole. Yesterday, Southern Bangkok Criminal Court found the man guilty of “publicising a crime” and for breaking the Computer Crimes Act because of a Tweet he posted in March last year.…
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Tourists who went missing in southern Thailand park found safe
Yesterday, park rangers in Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani found 2 tourists who had gone missing the day before. The women, 19 year old Eliza Rose and 19 year old Matilda Cox, got lost in a jungle in Khao Sok National Park in Phanom district. Eliza is a British national, and Matilda is from Northern Ireland. Eliza and Matilda…
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Health officials call for more elderly Thais to get their Covid-19 boosters
According to the Department of Disease Control, around 6 million elderly Thais have yet to receive a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Dr. Taweesap Siraprapasiri says the reason for this is that people are either worried about potential side-effects or they feel they don’t need a booster. However, he adds that 43% of elderly people have received 3 doses,…
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Thais in Japan protest in front of PM Prayut’s hotel
Thais from a group named UDD Japan gathered in front of a hotel where Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was staying to protest. The group demanded that the PM resign and release the young political activists out of jail. PM Prayut is in Japan to join the 27th International Conference on the Future of Asia or Nikkei Forum, held until the…
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