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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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How to become a Monk in Thailand at iMONASTERY Chiangmai
Press Release Becoming a Buddhist Monk in Thailand used to be a difficult and long process but has now been made easier through the Monk Life Project. The Monk Life Project offers in-depth English Dhamma and Meditation instruction in a structured program that draws participants from many international countries. While in Thailand young men often ordain to make good Karma…
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Drug dealer killed in shootout after high-speed chase
A shootout between Royal Thai Police, army troops, and drug dealers led to one death, an arrest, and 4 million methamphetamine pills seized in a breath-taking, high-speed chase in Chiang Rai last night. Pha Muang Task Force narcotics suppression police and soldiers, tried to pull over a pickup truck with fake Chiang Rai licence plates at a road checkpoint at…
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Three arrested in India in occult human sacrifice case
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, police arrested three people accused of murdering two women allegedly as an occult human sacrifice. Authorities say that the people taken into custody confessed to the crime. A 60 year old traditional healer and masseur and his 52 year old wife were believed to have worked with an occult practitioner to improve their…
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‘Until the pots are dry’ – where 10 baht dishes rule the menu
In Chiang Mai, a tiny eatery specialising in 10 baht dishes is attracting shuffling lines of rumbling stomachs in the Chang Pueak area. “And it’s delicious,” said a regular who seemed very happy to stand in a long queue of hungry patrons. Open for just a fortnight, Khao Gang Khun Yai on Photharam-Jet Yod Road, is cooking up quite a…
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PM Prayut avoids being pelted with rotten fish & faeces
A group of activists armed with rotten fish and faeces were ready to pelt Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as he visited flood-hit areas of Thailand yesterday. Fortunately, the PM’s entourage was tipped off about the planned attack and he avoided the activists lying in wait at a temple in Muang district PM Prayut was scheduled to visit Wat Khemaphirataram before…
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Ayutthaya temples at risk from flood damage
In Ayutthaya, about 70 historical sites and temples are at risk of collapse due to the heavy rains that have caused widespread floods all across the country. Ayutthaya is a province steeped in history and culture. Founded in 1350 and serving as the second capital of Thailand when it was known as Siam, the area is full of ancient historical…
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Ubon Ratchathani Zoo closed due to floods
Thailand has been battered by heavy rains and flooding throughout the nation. In Ubon Ratchathani, the zoo had to close for the foreseeable future due to floods. While the rainwaters persist, officials at the zoo assure the approximately 600 animals living there are safe. The director of the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand said that there’s enough food to take…
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North Korea’s Kim watching Russia’s Putin closely after nuclear threats
North Korea’s leader is observing the moves of Russia as it moves toward normalising nuclear threats. The government has set off more than 40 missile launches this year while threatening pre-emptive nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul, world leaders say it may be looking at Russia as its inspiration. As Russia is a nuclear-armed member of the UN Security Council,…
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Florida school shooter gets life in prison, avoids death penalty
A shooter who killed 17 people at his former high school in the state of Florida in the US, has avoided the death penalty for his crimes. The US jury decided that Nikolas Cruz should spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to the Straits Times, the jury deliberated for a full day…
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Man used dating app to murder one woman, torture another
A man was arrested for murdering a woman he met on a dating app while police found another severely beaten woman in his room. The 27 year old man had been wanted for the torture of a woman that resulted in her death on July 21 in Bangkok Noi but had gone on the run. Police got a tip-off about…
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Thailand’s LTR visa needs reworking to attract foreigners
Thailand is still confident its updated Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa will attract affluent foreigners despite more attractive LTR visa options in other countries. On September 1, Thailand launched a revised LTR visa, joining other nations such as Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, targeting rich foreigners. The Thai government cut the cost of the 10-year LTR visa in half, from…
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More students from Thailand enter China
Chinese ambassador Han Zhiqiang is making good on his promise that students from Thailand would be one of the first groups allowed to return to China when the country reopened. This week more students returned to class in China for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic closed classrooms all over the world. Han said in August his education counsellors…
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Missing Russian man in Koh Pha Ngan believed found dead
The Russian man missing in Koh Pha Ngan for a month has been reportedly found dead in the forest of the island. The man had been reported missing since September 13. On Wednesday a Burmese person stumbled upon a body in a dense forest area on the Pha Ngan and notified the police immediately. A friend took to Facebook to…
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Taiwan welcomes Bangkok travellers as first unrestricted flight
Taiwan has ended mandatory quarantine and welcomed a plane from Bangkok as the first international flight to land without Covid-19 restrictions. Just after midnight this morning, a flight from Bangkok arrived to fanfare as the first commercial flight where passengers were not required to quarantine on arrival. Taiwan lagged behind other countries in Asia in loosening restrictions as the Covid…
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Drunk man holds baby hostage at knifepoint to get his wife back
Police in Samut Prakan were in an intense standoff with a drunken father who took his eight month old baby hostage. The man had been estranged from his wife who left to travel to the provinces. After apparently visiting his own parents, he grabbed a kitchen knife and his infant child in the middle of the night yesterday. North Samrong…
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Philippine Airlines takes off to Bangkok
Philippine Airlines (PAL) today announced it will reintroduce direct flights between Cebu City and Thailand’s capital city Bangkok in December. The Philippine flag carrier made public it is to introduce a twice-weekly service, operating on Monday and Friday, which will depart from Cebu in the morning of December 9 and depart from Bangkok in the early afternoon. PAL previously operated…
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Julian Assange supporters ‘heartened’ by Aussie govt
Family, friends and supporters of imprisoned journalist Julian Assange were “heartened” and frustrated by the words of the Australian Government Attorney General yesterday. Supporters, keen to secure the release of the Australian citizen as he fights extradition from Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom, may be frustrated but Greg Barns SC, a legal advisor to the 51 year old’s campaign,…
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Woe upon woe – Suu Kyi gets more jail time
A court in Myanmar has convicted ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on two more corruption charges. Her two three-year sentences will be served concurrently, though added to previous sentences that now leave her facing a 26-year prison term. In February 2021, the military took over from Suu Kyi’s government. Her NLD party had won a landslide victory in elections,…
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Thailand refuses to condemn Russia at UN Assembly
Thailand refused to condemn Russia’s decision to annex parts of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday. In September, Russia proclaimed its annexation of four partially occupied regions in Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – after staging what it called referendums. Ukraine, the UN General Assembly, and their allies refused to recognise the referendums,…
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Ukraine regains more territory from Russia in south
The Ukrainian government says it has regained more territory from Russia in the south after being pummelled by its army for an intense two days. According to the Bangkok Post, the news of the recent gains comes as Russia attacked the country with missiles, damaging energy facilities. President Vladimir Putin says the recent attacks were retaliation for a deadly explosion…
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Cambodia’s first motorway Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville deemed a success
This week a test run of Cambodia’s first motorway saw over 80,000 vehicles driving the route. After being under construction for over three years, the motorway opened its roadway to the public on October 1 as a one-month trial. The road is 187 kilometres long and runs from the capital city of Phnom Penh to the popular port and tourist…
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King Rama IX statue to be unveiled in Chalerm Phrakiat Park
Their Majesties the King and Queen are to oversee the unveiling of a statue of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great at the new Chalerm Phrakiat Park in Bangkok’s Dusit district. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invited attendees at the ceremony to an audience with Their Majesties during the ceremony. Free shuttle buses will take participants for Covid-19 screenings and…
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Drug Testing Police officers & Crackdown on Drugs in Thailand | GMT
Columbia Pictures’ Aquaverse theme park opened today. 3,500 police officers in Chiang Mai take drug tests. Honouring the 6th anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death. The new MRT Yellow Line monorail train starts a trial run today. Monk ends Buddhist Lent with a bang in northeast Thailand. Airline flight capacity is up, Thai tourism officials hopeful. – all are coming…
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Thai university rankings slide, Singapore first in ASEAN
The latest Times Higher Education report has seen Thailand’s universities slide in rankings with Singapore coming out on top in Southeast Asia. According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s rankings were lower than those of tertiary institutions in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei. The report listed the kingdom’s four best universities in the 801-1,000 band: Chulalongkorn University King Mongkut’s…
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Chon Buri university dean and senior official charged with embezzlement
A Chon Buri university dean and senior official are being charged with embezzlement after funds allocated for training courses and academic seminars went missing. According to Bangkok Post, Assistant professor Theeraphong Bualar, 48, dean of Burapha University’s Faculty of Political Science and Law was charged along with Sayaphat Kittisarawanno, 46, acting head of the dean’s office. Both were charged with…
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Resistance Groups Report Heavy Myanmar Regime Losses
Around 20 Myanmar junta soldiers and pro-regime militia members have been reportedly killed in resistance ambushes. According to Irwaddy.com, the soldiers were killed in Taze Township as the Taze People’s Defence Force (TPDF) and other resistance groups ambushed about 80 soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee militia members near Shwetakyaw village in the Sagaing Region’s Taze township. The ambush came after…
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Coinbase tapped by Google for crypto payments
In a boost for the cryptocurrency world, tech goliath Google announced plans to allow some customers to pay for cloud services using Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange platform. The announcement from Google gave crypto a much-needed kick after an overall rough year. The rollout will begin with access solely to those customers working in the Web3 industry, allowing selected people to…
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Columbia Pictures’ Aquaverse theme park opened today
Columbia Pictures’ Aquaverse finally opened today, welcoming the public to the theme park and water park. The movie and television company selected Thailand to create its first theme park, choosing Pattaya because of its proximity to U-Tapao Airport, high-speed trains, and easy transportation. The park opens to patrons of all ages daily from 10am to 6pm. The grand opening today…
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Possessing 5 methamphetamine pills might soon be considered drug dealing in Thailand
Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha suggests making changes to the law so that anyone possessing five or more methamphetamine pills should be considered a ‘drug dealer’ and therefore serve a much longer prison sentence. The comments come after PM Prayut declared a war on drugs in response to the mass killings at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu…
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3,500 police officers in Chiang Mai take drug tests
Chiang Mai plans to ask 3,500 officers from every police station in the province to take a drug test to build confidence and trust in the community after the daycare centre massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu. The Commander of the Chiang Mai Provincial Police, Thawatchai Pongwiwattanachai, reported to Thairath today that the police are to kick off a project called “Clean…
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