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Bangkok removing trees to make way for underground walkways
As part of a new “landscape improvement project,” the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has begun removing trees along Na Phra Lan Road, to pave the way for an underground network of walkways. 34 trees on the road will be removed, and the “Silpakorn Nokrob” (around Silpakorn) Facebook page yesterday called the decision “heartbreaking” for locals and conservationists. In April the BMA…
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Pattaya to upgrade 6 U-turns after public outcry
6 U-turns in the greater Pattaya City area are being upgraded to prevent road accidents, after a recent spate of fatalities. Pattaya City’s mayor told The Pattaya News yesterday that the improvements are being carried out to make the U-turn areas wider and safer. “6 U-turns on Sukhimwit Road are being fixed and constructed from Jittapawan Temple to the Makro…
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Bangkok’s sky park bridging the Chao Phraya ready for opening
Bangkok now has an elevated garden overlooking the Chao Phraya River, after architects transformed a portion of an abandoned electric train project into a green pedestrian bridge. For 30 years, the unfinished Saphan Phut line stood as a reminder of the Lavalin Skytrain project, which was abandoned in 1992. The project began in 1984 under former PM Prem Tinsulanonda. Today…
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Rubber roads will help Thai growers, increase safety
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha chaired the signing ceremony of an agreement to use local Thai rubber in road construction, part of an effort to help the country’s financially strapped rubber farmers. Prayut praised the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives as well as Prince of Songkhla University, the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, the…
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Crowned bats captured, studied as possible Covid-19 carriers
Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, and the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, are researching whether Thailand’s “crowned bats” could carry or transmit the Covid-19 coronavirus. The chief of the department’s wildlife health management section says they went to a cave in in the eastern province of Chanthaburi, home to millions of the bats, to capture more…
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6 major zoos, 127 national parks to reopen tomorrow in Thailand
Starting Monday, 6 of Thailand’s major zoos will reopen for visitors free of charge, and 127 of the country’s 155 national parks are also set to open their doors again. The minister of natural resources and environment told a press briefing that Chon Buri’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Chiang Mai Zoo, Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo, Songkhla Zoo, Khon Kaen Zoo, Ubon…
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No Aussie dollars in Thailand for at least 3 months
As Thailand starts to poke its head out over the Covid-19 parapet and look towards its travel future, there is at least one country that won’t be lining up at Thai immigration any time soon. Australians, an enduring stalwart of Thai tourism traffic, are banned from leaving the shores of the land downunder for at least another 3 months. The…
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Policeman uses beer and hometown connection to coax man down from Bangkok building – VIDEO
A policeman in Bangkok has prevented a man from leaping to his death by chatting to him in his own dialect in an attempt to reassure him. A report in Coconuts says the police officer told the man there was nothing to be afraid of, pointing out they were both from the same hometown. VIDEO: RDNewsCH3 It’s understood the man,…
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Thai road deaths surpass 6,000 for year to date
Thailand’s publicly announced goal of a maximum 664 road deaths per year from 2020 now seems fanciful, by a factor of 10 of more. The Daily News reports that as of yesterday, the death toll at the scene of traffic incidents in Thailand since the beginning of the year stood at 6,120. 43 died at the incident scenes on Wednesday…
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Covid-19 update: 5 new cases, all imported (June 13)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration today announced that 5 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours. All 5 were imported cases of Thai students returning from Saudi Arabia. No new deaths were reported. The total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the outbreak in Thailand now stands at 3,134. The death toll remains at…
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Homicide ruled out Ukrainian woman’s Koh Samui death
Police in the southern Surat Thani province now say the death of a Ukrainian woman on Koh Samui was either from natural causes or suicide, and have specifically ruled out homicide. Officers found 32 year old Olga Frolova’s phone in her knapsack and suggest that she died while resting in the forest from exhaustion and heat, or at her own…
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Schools, colleges, universities to reopen, restaurants and hotels can serve alcohol from Monday
The spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced yesterday that schools, colleges and other educational institutes will be allowed to re-open on Monday, and alcohol can again be served in restaurants and hotels, but NOT in pubs, bars or other entertainment venues. The national curfew is also being lifted as of Monday. International schools and tuition schools are…
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Government denies rumours of fines for online alcohol-related pics
Despite recent reports, the Office of the Alcohol Control Committee is dismissing a rumour about individuals being fined for posting images of alcoholic drinks on social media. The rumour went viral, with some saying individuals can be fined to up to 50,000 baht for posting images of alcoholic beverages online, or up to 10 times that amount if they’re manufacturers.…
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Dengue fever outbreak sickens nearly 6,000 Thai kids
While the Covid-19 outbreak is easing in Thailand, there is growing alarm over a nationwide outbreak of dengue fever, which has sickened nearly 6,000 children already this year. On June 2, Thailand had recorded 15,385 cases of dengue fever, which killed 11 people, according to the director-general of the Department of Disease Control. More than a third of those cases,…
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Chulalongkorn University defends shrine demolition for new condos
Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University is defending its plan to demolish a historic Thai-Chinese shrine on its grounds to clear the land for high-rise buildings with condominiums and dormitories. A statement from the university’s estate office says the Chao Mae Tabtim Saphan Luang Shrine will be rebuilt at a new location close to the original site within 6 months, with a re-opening…
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Phuket Airport is open for business. Flights available today.
Phuket International Airport is open from today. This island’s airport, closed from the start of April, re-opened just after midnight. Not that there are many scheduled flights today. It looks like the announcement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand caught the airlines by surprise as well but the airlines may add flights quickly to take advantage of the earlier…
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Surat Thani fishermen want government intervention in “cockle war”
Cockles – and Thailand’s “cockle wars” – are back in the news this week. Fishermen in the southern Surat Thani province are calling for clearer guidelines on cockle catches, as their conflict with shellfish farmers drags on despite intervention from provincial authorities. Last Wednesday, a man rode in on his jet ski, firing a gun as some 300 fisherman raided…
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The one that didn’t get away… a fish tale with a happy ending
A man has been joyfully reunited with his prized, and very valuable, fish after leaving it in a pink Bangkok taxi. The fish’s owner hailed cab 6880 from Chatuchak market but got out of the vehicle in the Klong Toei area, leaving his “Channa Barca” snakehead fish inside in a plastic bag. The owner immediately contacted radio station JS 100,…
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Thailand News Today – Friday, June 12
4 Thais repatriated from India found with Covid-19 today Today the government announced 4 new cases of Covid-19, all were reported as repatriated Thai citizens from India. All have been quarantined in Chon Buri and tested positive during their 14 day stay. All have been mostly asymptomatic. India had the most Covid-19 cases in Asia with a total of 298,283…
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6 fisherman rescued from Phuket waters after their longtail boats sink – VIDEO
2 longtail boats carrying 6 fishermen sank in high seas this morning near Koh Mai Thon aka. Wooden Island, off the coast of Phuket. All 6 fishermen have now been rescued. The 2 boats and their crews left Phuket port last night to fish off Koh Mai Thon, but the crews sent out a distress call about 8am. The boats…
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Controversy over university’s plan to demolish Chinese shrine
A Bangkok university plans to demolish a historic Chinese shrine on the property to build student dormitories. The shrine’s caretakers have until next week before they are evicted to make way for Chulalongkorn University’s new buildings. But the caretakers and student activists say “no.” Apparently the university has been pressing keepers of the Thapthim Goddess Shrine to move for about 2…
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State hospital investigation into ‘suspicious’ drug company donations
More than a hundred hospitals will be investigated for allegedly receiving what health officials are describing as “suspicious” donations from pharmaceutical companies. The hospitals allegedly had a deal with the some of the drug companies – hospitals get a 5% discount and the rebate would be sent back to the hospital, labelling it as a “donation”. The 186 hospitals being investigated…
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Young girls raped in 2 separate cases
A Northern Thailand man was arrested for allegedly raping his stepdaughter after a complaint was filed by the biological father. In another case, an Isaan man was arrested for allegedly raping his niece’s 5 year old daughter. In Lampang, Northern Thailand, a 46 year old man was arrested yesterday. The 9 year old girl’s biological father says his daughter called…
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Alcohol association begs government for trial re-opening of bars
But they know it is unlikely to happen. The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing Emergency Decree have caused immeasurable economic impact across the country.Probably no sectors has been harder hit than hospitality, entertainment and nightlife. Although alcohol sales appear set to resume in restaurants next week, around 10,000 pubs, bars and entertainment venues nationwide – and their many casual staff…
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4 Thais repatriated from India found with Covid-19 today (June 12)
Today the government announced 4 new cases of Covid-19, all were reported as repatriated Thai citizens from India. Dr. Taweesilp spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says… “1 of the cases was a 39 year old housemaid, who returned to Thailand on June 4 and was quarantined in Chon Buri province. She showed no symptoms, but tested positive for…
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7 year old daughter helps police prevent father’s suicide
When police in the central plains province of Uthai Thani learned of a shooting incident they rushed to the scene to find a woman with a gunshot wound to her face and a man threatening to shoot himself in the head. Rescue workers rushed the woman to hospital while police tried to calm the man down and stop him from…
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Anti-alcohol law has “bounty hunters” snitching for reward money
Educating people, or advertising, online about alcoholic beverages is a crime in Thailand – a lesson learned the hard way by the administrator of a Facebook page detailing thee differences in the many types of craft beers when he was fined 50,000 baht for “advertising” alcohol on social media. Police told him they received a “tip-off from someone”. Artid, the…
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No foreigners at Wat Pho, Bangkok temple says Thais only
The Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) is open, but only if you’re Thai. Foreigners are not allowed in, even if you’ve been living in Thailand for years. The famous Bangkok temple re-opened last week but are keeping foreigners over fears of the coronavirus. A sign with red letters, all capitalised “ONLY THAI PEOPLE … NOW NOT OPEN FOR…
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Long road to recovery for Phuket property sector
The Vice-President of the Phuket Real Estate Association says there will be no quick bounce-back for the island’s property market, saying it will take at least 2 years for things to recover from the devastating effects of Covid-19. Speaking to Bangkok Post, Boon Yongsakul, owner of Boat Lagoon, says the fall-out has been particularly severe in Phuket because the province…
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Thailand News Today – Thursday, June 11
Transport Company resumes service, bans foreigners The wheels on the bus go round and round. But not for foreigners living in Thailand. It’s now official. If you’re a foreigner you won’t be allowed on intercity buses operated by the state owned Transport Company, under the auspices of the Thai Ministry of Transport. They announced today that foreigners are banned from…
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