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Young Thai caught between a rock and a hard place in Satun
A 20 year old Thai has been rescued from getting stuck in a rock crevice for nine hours. Sanook reported that the man was out looking for wild orchids with a friend on Saturday. He fell down into a rock crevice before being found and rescued by local foundation rescue volunteers. The incident happened at the Phu Pa Phet Cave…
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Bangkok’s expat rental trends changing
The number of Japanese expats in Thailand dropped to lower than 20% of the total expats in Thailand for the first time, dropping to 34,133 as of April 2019, a 4% decline year on year, according to CBRE. CBRE are reporting a change in demand and an impact on the rental apartment sector in Bangkok, despite a healthy performance. Typically, they…
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Thai Navy pushing Cabinet for a second Chinese submarine
The Royal Thai Navy say they want to purchase a second submarine valued at 12 billion baht from China. Under the NCPO military government the cabinet agreed with the navy’s plan in 2016 to buy three submarines from China valued at 36 billion baht. The purchases would be spread over 11 years. The navy says they’re now waiting for the…
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Cambodian petrol station attendant shot in Nakhon Ratchasima
A Cambodian working at a Thai petrol station has been shot in Nakhon Ratchasima. He was resting, sitting at a table at the time of the incident. The shooting took place on July 27 around midnight in the Pak Thong Chai district. The 30 year old Cambodian worker was shot in the head from behind by a young Thai man,…
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UPDATE: ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ ride in Chiang Mai open again
UPDATE: We have been contacted by the Flight of the Gibbon management and assured that the popular zipline attraction is open again and sorted out from its previous problems. They have been open again since June 2019. PHOTOS: Guruchiangmai The ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ zipline ride in Chiang Mai has been ordered to temporarily shut down while an investigation continues…
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Top 5 things Phuket hotel developers should know
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Taking a 2020 view of Phuket’s hotel development pipeline that has now surpassed 15,000 new keys it’s hard not to be apprehensive. From a macro standpoint, the destination’s airlift and location are key success factors. But for the myriad cast of new and inexperienced hotel developers out there, perhaps a visit down Alice’s rabbit hole…
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11 Bangkok students arrested over fatal knife attack
11 students have been arrested after Saturday’s fatal stabbing of a 21 year old student from the College of Industrial Technology at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. Four teenage girls are being held as witnesses during the investigation. The 11 male students are to be charged with murder and assault. The four girls, ages 16 and 17, are friends with…
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5 metre King Cobra interrupted lunching on a monitor lizard in Krabi
Volunteer snake catchers from the Phitak Pracha rescue foundation were called to a house in Krabi. The owner of the Krabi house arrived home and heard her dogs barking. She went to investigate and found a five metre King Cobra making a meal out of a water monitor lizard. Anantaya Phonbamrungwong told Thai Rath that the tail of the water…
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13 Bangkok passengers refused entry into Thailand by immigration police
PHOTO: Naew Na Region 2 immigration police at Suvarnabhumi airport report that they denied entry to 13 foreigners who weren’t able to provide proof of funds to support their travelling whilst visiting Thailand. Immigration officials claim the ‘tourists’ were not visiting Thailand for tourism. Apart from not being able to provide evidence of sufficient funds, the arriving passengers didn’t have…
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“The Great Hack” makes you think twice about how you use social media
It’s a documentary about Cambridge Analytica. You know, that dodgy company you’d never heard of until The Guardian and New York Times did some real reporting and dug into the deep, deep hole we’ve dug for ourselves by leaping into social media without reading the fine print. It’s a Netflix production as the online streamer continues to become a mainstream…
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“No water crisis in the Chao Phraya basin” – Irrigation Department
PHOTO: Bhumibol Dam in Tak when full, now holding only 4% of capacity The Royal Irrigation Department is assuring farmers and residents in the central and north-east that there is no risk of Thailand of severe water shortages. This is despite little rain in some areas during the annual wet season and the low levels of the Chao Phraya River…
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Spanish tourist falls to his death at a waterfall trail on Koh Samui
PHOTO: Thai PBS A Spanish tourist fell to his death as he attempted to walk down from a waterfall on Koh Samui. The incident happened on Saturday and police believe the man’s death was an accident. Friends told police that 26 year old David Alejandro Rocamudi Conesa became separated from their group as they were exploring the Na Muang 2…
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Bangkok hosts ASEAN Foreign Ministers meetings from today
The 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting starts today. Representatives from more than 30 countries will attend the meetings. The regional talkfest is being held at Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre. Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai will chair the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and co-chair the Post Ministerial Conferences with the Dialogue Partners and other meetings. Other meetings include the…
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Thais across the country commemorate HM the King’s birthday
PHOTOS: The Nation To commemorate His Majesty the King’s birthday today, celebrations have been held around the country. In Songkhla the Fifth Artilleryman Battalion performed a 21 gun salute as a military honour to celebrate His Majesty’s 67th birthday. The firing of cannons from four artillery machines was performed at Mahavajiravudh Songkhla School in the Muang district of Songkhla province.…
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Expat group petitions Thai immigration to abolish TM30 form
A group of expats, representing foreigners living in Thailand for many years, has prepared a petition for affected expats to sign, before they present it to Thai Immigration and government officials. They are requesting changes to the enforcement of the controversial TM30 form. There is a link to their website at the bottom of the page where you can sign the…
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Super Poll report card on the first days of the new Thai Parliament
A Super Poll has published results of Thai’s thoughts on the first few days of the new Parliament. • 72% say they gained nothing from the debate in parliament on the government’s policy statement • 78.6% admit they did not believe political parties would fulfil their election pledges. • 27.2% of the respondents said they have benefitted from the debate…
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Lights, camera, blog. TAT reaches out to online millennials.
PHOTO: Where in the World is Nina? With pressure on tourism authorities to come up with new ways to lure tourists to the Land Of Smiles and rebrand the tired ‘Amazing Thailand’ promotion, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have come up with the ‘Thailand Village Academy’. Stepping firmly into the world of online bloggers and social media, the TAT…
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Thai man sends online beautiful girlfriend 2.3 million baht – Doh!
Love is a beautiful thing. A Thai man has fallen in love with a beautiful woman on Facebook called Bai Por. The romance has blossomed online for more than two years, according to “Non”. He’s sent 2.3 million baht to her in money transfers, according to Sanook. Every time they’d made arrangements to finally meet up, Bai Por would postpone…
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Xayaburi Dam owners say they’re not responsible for dry Mekong River
PHOTO: The Laotian Times CK Power, operators of the new Xayaburi Dam in Laos, are denying their dam tests (running from July 15 until tomorrow) are responsible for the low water flows in the Mekong River. The tests were a lead up to full scale production of electricity from October this year, most of which will head to Thailand. Fingers…
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Durian drives southern economy with new Chinese 700 million baht factory
A Chinese company has invested 700 million baht to establish a durian processing factory in Songkhla’s Thepha district. The establishment of the Kunming-based company in southern Thailand is an indication of the growing love for durian in China and a growing export potential for the ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ fruit. Manguwang Food Company will employ up to 1,200 workers at its 700 million…
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Pattaya police caught extorting son of senior Issan policeman
PHOTO: Daily News Four Pattaya police have been caught out trying to extort payment from a person in an e-cigarette sting. But the person they were trying to get payment from was the son of a deputy police commander in Isaan, in Thailand’s north east. 24 year old Phanuwat Suban Na Ayuthaya reported the alleged extortion to Pattaya police yesterday. He…
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Big bike rider decapitated in horror crash in Bangkok
PHOTOS: Sanook A motorbike rider has been decapitated after colliding with the side of the Klong Tan Flyover yesterday. He was riding a BMW S1000 RR big bike at the time. His body was taken to the Chulalongkorn Hospital for an autopsy to determine the presence of alcohol or drugs in his blood. Sanook reports that motorbikes are not allowed on…
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Over 600 foreigners arrested in southern Thailand for overstays and illegal entry
PHOTO: Manager 686 people have been arrested in southern Thailand, mostly foreigners, on a variety of offences of working illegally or being involved in human trafficking. Thailand’s Region 6 immigration reported that the people were arrested between July 1-25. Immigration reported… • 436 people have been arrested as illegal migrant workers and had illegally entered Thailand • 49 had no…
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Phuket leads the way in managed hotel residences
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com – Feature article “Hotel Residences – properties that sell individual units in the real estate market and operate as either hotels or else are branded by hospitality operators. Other often used terms are condotel, hotel branded residences and hospitality-led real estate.” Phuket’s love affair with hotel managed properties started in the late 1980’s with the…
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Australian pair’s ‘misunderstanding’ puts Phuket Airport taxis and van services in spotlight
When Australians Kate Chipperfield and Lauren Meinties filed their complaint about a 3,000 baht van fare from Phuket Airport to Kata, they had no idea of the chain of events that would follow. Even the Thai PM got involved ordering Phuket officials to clamp down on rorts, and taxi and van drivers to stop ripping off tourists. As the central…
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WWF Thailand pushes for sustainable tourism and preservation
An animal lover, nature lover and a Thai national, CEO of World Wide Fund-Thailand, Natalie Phaholyothin is particularly proud of Thailand’s national environment and wildlife heritage. “We have 127 national parks, which is quite a high number, and that in itself should be an indication of the potential for Thailand to become more of a sustainable tourism destination. “All Thais…
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Thailand’s headline inflation surged over 1% in March
“The SCB Economics Intelligent Centre has revised down its forecast for average headline inflation in 2019 to 0.9% year on year, a slight decline from the previous forecast of 1.0%year on year.” Thailand’s headline inflation surged to 1.24%, year on year, during March. This is up from 0.73%, year on year, in the previous month. Food and energy prices are the…
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Facebook removes accounts and pages because of “inauthentic behaviour”
“Facebook says the reason for the removal of the posts and accounts was because of their “behaviour” not the content they posted.” Facebook has erased over 1,800 accounts and pages from Thailand, Russia, Ukraine and Honduras in a move to counter abuses of its service and “deceptive political propaganda”. Facebook has shared examples of Thailand-based Facebook accounts, posts and pages it…
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HK Consulate warns Thais and visitors about weekend protests
PHOTO: China Daily Kong Kong The Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong is warning both Thai residents and visitors not to enter the areas or in the vicinity of protests planned for July 27-28 in Hong Kong. The announcement was made on their Facebook page yesterday. According to the announcement, the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong had been informed…
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Philippines tourism surges, despite last year’s Boracay closedown
The Philippines Department of Tourism is reporting that 2018 closed with a 7.68% increase in tourist arrivals. Last year’s six month closure of tropical paradise Boracay, from May to October, seems to have little affect on the overall growth of the country’s tourism. The island closed down last year for a ‘makeover’, mainly to tackle pollution after the country’s president…
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