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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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44 national assembly reps support bill to decriminalise ‘medical marijuana’
A total of 44 members of the Thai National Legislative Assembly have signed in support of a draft bill to decriminalise marijuana for medical purpose by deleting cannabis from the Category 5 list of narcotic drugs, said Mr Somchai Sawaengkarn, secretary of the NLA’s extraordinary committee on parliamentary affairs. He says the decision to push for a separate bill to…
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No plane, no flight data recorder – search & recovery continue off Jakarta
The plane involved in the Lion Air flight JT610 crash off Jakarta was Boeing’s newest and most advanced jets, loosely based on the original Boeing 737 but including the very latest technology and construction materials. It was just two months old and with a minuscule 800 hours under its belt (for a commercial jet). Aviation officials, Boeing engineers and investigators…
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3 Vietnamese boats seized, 14 crew arrested
A Royal Thai Navy patrol boat has seized three Vietnamese fishing vessels and arrested 14 crew members for illegally ‘raking’ the seabed for sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Thailand. The three boats were spotted and ordered to surrender by HTMS Khamronsin on Monday. The Navy ship forced the vessels back to the port of the Songkhla-based Navy Area 2…
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Black box recovered as probe begins into cause of Vichai crash
UK Air accident investigators have begun the slow process of ascertaining the cause of the helicopter crash on Saturday that took the lives of King Power chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people. The sombre inquiry coincided with the opening of a book of condolences at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium, where fans flocked to leave tributes to the man…
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Prachuap Khiri Khan’s 9.6 million baht blue car park
Bike lanes are being added in popular locations around the country, at great expense, for the pleasure and safety of the growing number of bicyclists in Thailand. But sometimes no one tells the car drivers who think the new bike lanes are just a colorful place to park their cars. A 9.6 million baht, 2.9 kilometre long bicycle lane along…
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Phuket motorcyclist falls off bike at checkpoint – VIDEO
A video clip of a man falling off his motorbike at a checkpoint in Rassada last night has gone viral in local social media. The elder brother of the injured man claims that police grabbed his brother’s collar when he was on the bike. Facebook user ‘Chaolert Tunsakun’ has posted the video clip last night with a message reading, “You…
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Man shot dead in a krathom brew party
A man has been shot dead in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Chulabhorn district after a dispute broke out during a ‘krathom brew drinking party’ early today. The victim, identified as 29 year old Sathit Changnam was shot 11 times all over is body. Several spent shells of 9mm pistol bullets were found at the scene – a shophouse in Moo 4…
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Storm forces Army helicopter into emergency landing
FILE PHOTO: Bell Helicopters 212 of the Royal Thai Army at Khon Kaen An Army helicopter flying senior military officers from Surat Thani to Ranong provinces has been forced to make an emergency landing in Chumphon this morning because of a thunderstorm cell that developed quickly along the route. The Bell 212 helicopter encountered sudden heavy rains, forcing it to…
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Speculation grows over the causes of Lion Air crash
“As the aircraft was preparing for takeoff, the engine died several times” – Passenger on the same 737 Max 8 plane the day before on a flight to Bali. In the wake of yesterday’s fatal crash of a brand new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, speculation has begun to try and imagine what could have happened to the…
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Lion Air flight JT 610 – body parts found, no plane located yet
PHOTO: Indonesian National Disaster & Mitigation Agency Search and rescue efforts continue to find more bodies and debris in the wake of the Lion Air flight JT 610 that crashed yesterday morning just after 6.30am in the seas north of Jakarta, Indonesia. According to rescuers, a total of 24 body bags have now been taken to the Kramat Jati Police…
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Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Woman accused of animal cruelty dodges media in Bangkok
PHOTO: The Nation Thonburi Court has freed on bail a 30 year old woman who has been accused of animal cruelty. Wararat Krasae, nicknamed Sun, walked free after her lawyer posted 40,000 baht bail. The woman appeared in the public for the first time at the court on Ekkachai Road after some animal lovers’ group filed complaints with police last…
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Backdown over “Prathet Ku Mee” anti-military rap
The government and authorities have veered away from a potential showdown with student activists and erred on the side of good politics with a back down on threats to press charges against the team behind the “Rap Against Dictatorship.” Read our weekend editorial about the matter HERE. The track’s YouTube views reached over 21 million (at the time of this…
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Tesco Lotus “We haven’t sacked 30-50% of our staff”
Matichon Online has posted a statement from Tesco Lotus following a series of viral posts claiming Tesco Lotus is laying off staff and closing stores. A similar story was posted on The Thaiger (below). The statement from Tesco Lotus says that the claims that “30%-50% of staffers have been laid off and 43 branches have been closed” are not true.…
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College student found dead in a bathroom in Nakhon Ratchasima
A third-year student of a technical college in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Mueang district has been found dead in a college bathroom today, according to police. The 20 year old male IT department student, was found lying face-down on the floor of the bathroom on the third floor of one of the college buildings. A doctor determined that he had died about…
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Darasamut Underpass to be temporary closed
The Phuket Highway Office has issued an announcement that says the Darasamut Underpass (adjacent to the Central shopping precinct) will be closed from tomorrow from 9am to 3pm (Tuesday, October 30). The announcement says, “The underpass will be temporary closed. Workers will be carrying out repairs of the electrical systems and cleaning the underpass.” “We apologise for any inconvenience during the…
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Krabi police investigate rocks thrown at an ambulance
Krabi police are currently investigating after a group of teenagers were throwing rocks at an ambulance in Krabi yesterday. The ambulance was transferring a patient and heading to Krabi Hospital Krabi City on Petkasem Road around 3am. The Krabi City Police Chief Col Somdet Sukkarn ordered his team to investigate the incident. There has been no CCTV camera found in…
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Northern temperatures to drop 3-5 degrees Celsius
OK, so we’ve exaggerated a bit. Mercury in Thailand’s north is set to drop another 3-5 degrees from tomorrow until Friday. Meanwhile southern regions are facing forecast rains and isolated heavy rain in some areas. The Thai Meteorological Department says another strong cold front out of China is looming south to cover the upper regions of Thailand from October 30-November…
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Bangkok bus crashes into power pole – nine injured
FILE PHOTO Eight people have suffered minor injuries following a Bangkok city bus on route number 48 (Ramkhamhaeng 2-Wat Pho) crashing into a power pole near Sukhumvit Soi 48 in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district this morning. The incident caused a long traffic jam. The incident reportedly happened when the driver slammed the brakes to avoid hitting a pickup truck that…
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Missing Lion Air 737 – UPDATE
SCREENGRAB: Flightradar24 • Flight JT610 was a Boeing 737-800 MAX, the latest version of the manufacturer’s workhorse 7373 single-aisle jet. • The aircraft was almost brand new. It was delivered to Lion Air on August 13 this year. • Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet before losing height, then regaining height, before…
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Patong Municipality responds to waste water flowing into bay
PHOTOS: Patong Municipality A video clip of wastewater flowing into sea at Patong Beach has gone viral in social media over the weekend. Patong Municipality yesterday issued a statement saying, “Referring to the case of waste water adjacent to the Diamond Cliff Beach Resort and Spa, Kalim Beach, two water pumps transferring waste water had stopped working due to the amount…
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Thaiger Radio News – Monday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Even more blacktip reef sharks spotted at recovering Maya Bay – VIDEO
Blacktip reef sharks have again been spotted at the recovering Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi yesterday. Director of the National Park Management Division Kamon Nuanyai says, “at 8am yesterday Hat Nopparat Thara – Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park officials have recorded a video clip of Blacktip reef sharks near the shores at Maya Bay. During the ongoing Maya…
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Volvo explodes into flames outside Phuket Temple
Fire has engulfed a parked Volvo sedan next to a temple in Phuket town. The car’s owner was taking part in a funeral inside the temple last night (Sunday). Firefighters were notified of the incident at Wat Kosit Wiharn Temple in Phuket Town at 7.11 pm. Two fire engines headed to the scene along with Phuket City police. The engine…
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Leicester fans mourn Thai boss killed in helicopter crash
PHOTO: Fox Sports Fans have been laying out flowers, football scarves, prayers and tributes outside the Leicester City club grounds after Saturday’s helicopter accident, in tribute to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Thai Leicester club owner fans credit for an against-all-odds Premiership victory in 2016. “Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve…
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Huge gains in reduction of single-use plastics – 30 universities
A network of 30 universities across the country has succeeded in reducing the number of single-use plastic bags, utensils and cups by 41 million pieces so far this year, it was announced during the Sustainable University Network of Thailand Conference 2018 hosted by Thammasat University. And that’s just at 30 universities. The Nation reports that the 30 universities’ plastic-use reduction…
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Unofficial confirmations that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was aboard crashed helicopter
FILE PHOTO Although there haven’t been official verifications from authorities, it appears likely that Thai duty free supremo, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was aboard his personal helicopter when it crashed soon after take off following a league match last night, UK time. Two leading media sources have led with news of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha being on the helicopter when it took off. The Leicester…
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Government mobilizes a new war on drugs
South East Asian governments have declared various ‘wars on drugs’ over recent decades, most notably President Duterte and The Philippines (2016 – 2018) and Thailand’s former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra in 2003. Both of them have had questionable results with rights groups decrying the extrajudicial killings as trampling on basic human rights. In February 2003, the Thai government, under then Prime…
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The government gets a ‘rap’ on the knuckles
13 million views and still going strong. That’s 20% of the population of Thailand. Any pop group would be astonished, amazed and pleasantly surprised by such popularity of their video clip in such a short time. But in this case the clip is a subversive rap from ‘Rap Against Dictatorship’, a five minute rant against military rule in the Kingdom.…
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The new-Boracay opens with a whole new set of rules
It’s open again. Boracay Island, forced to close after being described by Philippine President Duterte as a ‘cesspool’, has undergone a major makeover of infrastructure and opens with new rules to help control tourist growth in the future. Tourists flooded back onto the island today as the island re-opened. Suffering the same problems as Maya Bay and southern Thai islands,…
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