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Sponsored See the best of Northern Thailand this winter on a budget
The Thaiger key takeaways Peak season brings higher prices, but smart planning and local know-how can help you experience Northern Thailand affordably. Chiang Mai, Pai, and Chiang Rai offer plenty of free or low-cost attractions, from temples and canyons to...
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Fake Garuda pilot arrested at Jakarta Airport
PHOTO: The Jakarta Post Police at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta have arrested a man posing as a pilot for the Indonesian national flag carrier Garuda at the airport’s Terminal 3. The arrest happened last Friday. The man has been identified as Alvin Adithya Darmawan. He was wearing a Garuda pilot uniform when he checked in at the Garuda…
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Police checking 50, mostly, minor violations post election day
Police around Thailand are prosecuting 50 alleged violations of election laws and continue to monitor the post-poll situation for further signs of potential trouble. The Royal Thai Police say they’re on alert for ‘ill-intentioned groups’ fomenting post-election chaos, national police deputy spokesman Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen said this morning. The 50 cases under investigation include buying votes, deliberate destruction of ballots…
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Alleged Greek murderer of Phuket beautician remains at large
PHOTO: Dimitrios ‘Dim’ Chairopoulo, wanted and believed to be living in Greece Local Phuket police are yet be informed of the latest in an international hunt for a Greek alleged murderer Dimitrios Chairopoulos. He remains wanted as a suspect in the murder of local beautician 43 year old Niramon ‘Bea’ Aewkaew in Phuket during February. Cherng Talay police say they want…
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Democrats toppled in Phuket
PHOTO: Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva resigned the leadership position last night amid dismal polls around the country The Democrat Party in Phuket, once a reliable strong-hold of Democrat votes, has yielded its customary monopoly, ceding two House seats to the junta-aligned Phalang Pracharat Party. The unofficial tally, as of late last night, gave Phalang Pracharat’s Sutha Prateep na Thalang…
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Guyanese arrested over ‘magic’ bank note scam in Phuket
PHOTOS: Surachete Hakparn A Guyanese man has been arrested in Phuket after the owner of a local language school reported a money scammer with an unusual scam. The Immigration Bureau Chief Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn reports that they have arrested the Guyanese man named Abdul Kalam Azad Sattaur at a mansion in Phuket Town last Friday. The arrest follows a Thai…
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Russian ‘mafia’ suspect arrested in Phuket
PHOTO: Siam Rath/Immigration Bureau / Phuket Immigration A male Russian ‘mafia’ identity has been arrested in Chalong, wanted over a number of alleged offenses in his home country. Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn says, “Officers have arrested a Russian man named Igor Tretiakov (spelt as ‘Ior’ on the Immigration poster), at an apartment in Chalong last Friday.” “We were notified from…
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Thai poll results, for newbies
PHOTO: France 24 The numbers are still being counted but the trends are now quite defined so that any changes are unlikely to affect the final result. According to popular vote figures from the Election Commission, with 93% of the total votes counted, Palang Pracharat garnered the most votes with 7.5 million, with Pheu Thai following at 7.3 million. But…
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UPDATE: Election results – what it all means
The Election Commission says the official results of the Thai general election will be announced today. By the close of counting last night around 92% of the votes had been counted. The bleary-eyed commission decided to delay the announcement until this afternoon. The EC chairman says the announcement of winners in each constituency had to be deferred because expat’ votes…
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Hermès opens its first store in Phuket at Central Floresta
Hermès has opened of its first store in Phuket at Central Floresta, the newly opened lifestyle shopping destination in the heart of the island, opposite Central Festival. As Hermès’ first venture outside the Thai capital, the new Hermès Phuket store makes a significant statement of expansion and confidence in the market. The new address in this world-renowned island will allow the…
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UN election monitors spread across Bangkok and beyond
PHOTOS: The Nation Foreign observers representing the United Nations have fanned out across the capital and its outskirts today to monitor the long-delayed election. Today’s national election, the first since 2011, is also the first since the military-backed NCPO seized power in May 2014. Four four-member teams wearing pale-blue vests were assigned to polling stations in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum…
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Red car ‘gun flasher’ arrested in Phuket
Phuket police have arrested and are questioning the driver of a red sedan following Friday’s incident on Thepkasattri Road in Srisoonthorn where he appeared to wave a gun out of his driver’s window (video in the link below). Manop Sangpal was tracked down by police but they’ve confirmed that Mr Manop’s ‘gun’ was just a BB gun, not a firearm.…
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2,821 days
It’s been 2,821 days between July 3, 2011 until today, March 24, 2019. July 3, 2011 was the last time Thais voted in a general election. That time Pheu Thai, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, won 265 seats in the 500 seat parliament. It was only the second time in Thai history that a single party won more than half of the seats…
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His Majesty urges Thais to elect ‘good people’ in today’s election
His Majesty the King has quoted from a speech delivered by his father, the late King Bhumibol, to urge voters to elect “good people” to rule the country. The Royal Household Bureau announced at 8.44pm that His Majesty had instructed the Lord Chamberlain to quote from a royal speech delivered by King Bhumibol at the sixth gathering of National Boy…
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“A clean and fair election”, EC assures international delegates
Thailand’s Election Commission has assured representatives from 11 nations and one international electoral watchdog organisation of a clean and fair election tomorrow. The EC briefed representatives of election commissions from Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, East Timor, and Vietnam at the Rama Gardens Hotel at 9.45am this morning. Representatives of the International Institute for Democracy…
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Eight Burmese migrants drown, two still missing in Kanchanaburi road crash
Eight Burmese migrants drowned along with two others that are missing, presumed dead, after a van they were travelling in was hit by a 10 wheel truck and both vehicles plunged into a canal in Kanchanaburi’s Tha Muang district in western Thailand today. Police say the accident happened at 12.10pm at the Sa Setthi Intersection in Tambon Ban Mai. About…
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Summer storms on the way for north, north-east
FILE PHOTO People living in the north of Thailand are being warned to brace themselves for some summer thunderstorms until Wednesday. The Meteorological Department issued an alert today saying the storms will be caused by a high-pressure system from China that will interact with the hot weather over upper Thailand. Outbreaks of summer thunderstorms will be likely from today to…
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No sign of concrete policies for conflict in the far South
by Don Pathan Parties offer few if any answers for a 15 year old deadly insurgency that successive governments have failed to quell. Peace and conflict have never been significant parts of any political party platform in Thailand. This is because a sustainable solution calls for long-term commitment to a policy that could prove to be politically costly. Lasting peace requires…
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Doubt over ‘majority support’ in survey about drilling near Si Thep historical park
Locals are up in arms about results from a public hearing into oil drilling project near the Si Thep historical park in Phetchabun province (just north of Bangkok). They are expressing doubt and concern over results of a public hearing that appear to show support for the project. Thai PBS reports that Mr. Prachuab Narkthien, chairman of the club of…
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94 motorcycles seized, 88 arrested – BKK road racing clampdown
Police have arrested 88 motorcyclists and seized 94 motorcycles last night for illegally modifying their bikes for road racing. Pol Maj Gen Nithithorn Jintakanon, traffic police chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, called a late night media pack at the Metropolitan Police Division 3 at 11.30pm to announce the arrests. Police set up road checkpoints in Metropolitan Division 3 last…
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“X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner” arrest numbers hit 8,400
by Kittipong Maneerit More foreigners detained and likely to be deported. Seems to be a never-ending supply of illegal foreigners hiding in Thailand. X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner has been an almost weekly campaign to round up and deport overstaying and illegal foreigners over the past two years. Another 490 foreigners were caught this week in the latest Immigration Police dragnet involving…
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Deputy PM promises ‘no coup’ after the election
Thailand’s Deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwan is hosing down speculation that there could be another coup after the March 24 general election if the votes don’t support the pro-military parties. Responding to questions about his role in maintaining peace and order around this Sunday’s election, General Prawit says there is “nothing to worry about”, including the situation in the three southernmost provinces of Yala,…
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American drug suspect impersonated ‘Mr Thomas’ for 25 years, arrested in Chiang Mai
PHOTOS: Surachate Hakparn, Immigration Bureau A 67 year old American man, wanted as a drug suspect, has been arrested in Chiang Mai this week. He had been living under the identity of another person with whom he shared a similar face, for more than 25 years. The Thai Immigration Bureau reports that they have arrested a 67 year old American…
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Police hunting for driver who threatened others with a gun on Phuket road – VIDEO
PHOTO: Tiw Tiw The Thalang Police are hunting for the driver who was threatening other motorists on Thepkrasattri Road by waving a gun around out of the driver’s window of his red sedan in Thalang this morning. A Facebook user ‘Tiw Tiw’ has posted the video with a message reading “where are the police, please follow him. The incident happened…
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King awards rescuers of Mu Pa football team
His Majesty the King has awarded 187 people, including 115 foreigners, with The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn for the rescue of the Mu Pa football team last July. The announcement in the Royal Gazette reads the government recognises that those people who helped those in peril performed good deeds and deserved to be honored. They will be granted the…
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Phuket’s hotel and property players look north
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com One of Greater Phuket’s real estate and hotel market’s that has a decided buzz of late is the area north of Phuket over the Sarasin bridge in Phang Nga. In Natai Beach, the entry of the Baba Beach Club and nearby Akyra has created renewed visibility for the broad West Coast stretch of white sand beach,…
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Alcohol ban again this weekend around Thailand
The election is two days away. That means Thais go to the polls for the first time since 2011. It also means there will be another 24 hour alcohol ban on this weekend. Alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden again from 6pm on Saturday, March 23 until 6pm on Sunday, March 24. Officials say weddings, parties and other celebrations…
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Chiang Mai hit-and-barge-through pickup driver sought by police
SCREENSHOT: Facebook/เพจคลิปดังเฟซบุ๊ก Can you help? Video footage from a car dash cam on the San Dek intersection in Chiang Mai shows a white Mazda pick-up barging its way through some waiting motorcycles sitting in the traffic. The rear motorcycle rider gets thrown off his bike, his bike is damaged but the surprised rider gets up after the pick-up just keeps…
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Earth Hour next week, everyone invited to join Bangkok by switching off lights
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is inviting Bangkokians to join in “60+ Earth Hour 2019”, by turning off electrical appliances and lights for one hour from 8.30-9.30pm on Saturday, March 30. The rest of Thailand is also invited to join in the annual environmental initiative. The BMA has participated in Earth Hour since 2008 by encouraging Thais to switch off lights to…
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Boating no-go zone set for HRH Princess Sirivannavari visiting Phuket
Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana is visiting Phuket today to inaugurate a new marine research vessel. A boats no-go zone has been set. The Phuket Marine Office has announced “Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana is visiting Phuket today to inaugurate the new marine vessel at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC)” “The official ceremonies is from midday to…
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Summer storm cell hits Bangkok
PHOTO: @fm91trafficpro A sudden and brief summer storm swiftly passed through Bangkok’s Lak Si and Don Mueang areas yesterday afternoon. The storm left some damage in its trail, including toppled small trees on Soi Vibhavadi 60, clogged drains and an under-construction Vibhavadi-Rangsit pedestrian bridge’s metal scaffold falling onto a car at Lak Si Intersection. The stormy weather took place around…
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