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Illegal forest poachers resorting to landmines to scare off rangers in Thailand’s east
PHOTO: Thai PBS Illegal loggers in Si Sa Ket, in eastern Thailand on the Cambodian border, have resorted to planting landmines to kill or maim forest rangers who try to interfere with their pursuit of the highly-prized Payoong, or Siamese Redwood trees in Thailand’s forest reserves. Other ordnance was found when rangers went to investigate the area. According to the…
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Kamala development is positive – a personal view
This week The Thaiger posted a few photos and prediction that the vacant corner, as you drive into Kamala from Patong, was going to another backwards step to the sleepy seaside town. The post provoked a lot of comment, including this one. The author’s identity has been hidden. What do you think about his response? https://www.facebook.com/thethaigerphuket/posts/1636282186509280?comment_id=1636333889837443&reply_comment_id=1638894932914672¬if_id=1565318229144276¬if_t=feed_comment “The funny thing about…
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Thailand’s Ang Thong National Marine Park, the ‘new’ Maya Bay
With Thailand’s Maya Bay in Koh Phi Phi Ley remains closed indefinitely to allow the tourist-magnet some much-needed time to recover, it’s time to look for another natural wonder. One of Thailand’s astonishing natural wonders, not as well known as Maya Bay, is the Ang Thong National Marine Park, located about 40 kilometres north west of the coast of Koh…
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Truck runs over motorcyclist in Phuket Town – VIDEO
WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised. The content of the video could be distressing to some. Yesterday afternoon (Thursday) a 10 wheel truck ran over a motorcyclist at the intersection in front of the Thepnimit Temple – Soi Thep Anusorn on Chao Fah East Road. At the scene, police found a white 10 wheel truck parked next to the traffic light and…
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Wreck of the Lady D could be a new recreational diving attraction off Koh Racha Yai, Phuket – PHOTOS
by Guy (Charlie) Lidureau Officials, unable to get water to the ‘Lady D’ as it burnt out of control on Wednesday morning, were forced to tow it away from the Ao Po Grand Marina. The burning superyacht was cut adrift and towed offshore to Koh Thanan, near Ao Po. Unfortunately, the damage done by the fire on Wednesday morning, is completely…
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Lovestruck 22 year old Thai has a ‘very bad day’
PHOTOS and STORY: Sanook.com & WorpointNews.com Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but not a diamond thief’s. A man has stolen two diamond rings from a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima. He told police he wanted the rings to show his girlfriend his ‘true love’. The two rings were valued at 84,000 baht. But true love would have to wait…
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Serbian government grants citizenship to Thailand’s former PM Yingluck
The Serbian government has granted citizenship to Thailand’s former PM Yingluck Shinawatra. Yingluck fled Thailand in 2017 just days before the Court handed down its findings on negligence charges against her and her government. 52 year old Yingluck, now a fugitive, fled to Dubai to join her brother Thaksin, another former Thai PM who fled in 2006 to avoid a…
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Thai weather man issues rain warnings for south and east
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a warning to residents of eastern and southern provinces to brace themselves for heavy rains until Sunday. In its warning, issued at 5am today, the department said the rains would be unleashed by influences of the southwest monsoon across the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, which is intensifying, and by a low-pressure…
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Myanmar court jails Australian publisher for 13 years over drugs charges
PHOTO: Soe Zeya Tun A Myanmar court yesterday sentenced 60 year old Australian media publisher Ross Dunkley to 13 years in jail after a police raid uncovered a stash of drugs at his home in Yangon in 2018. Ross has extensive links with the media industry across Southeast Asia, co-founding the English language newspaper The Myanmar Times when Myanmar was…
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Thai Government suffers first defeat in lower house
PHOTO: Thai PBS Highlighting the Government’s frail grip on power, the ruling Palang Pracharat government, together with its 19 coalition partners, suffered its first defeat in the lower house yesterday. The matter was over a parliamentary regulation that would specify the House speaker’s impartiality in the performance of their duties. Regulation Number 9 was debated at length in the Lower…
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Lottery winner gets arrested for handing out free meth pills
PHOTOS: Workpoint News Congratulations. You’ve just won two grand prize Thai lottery tickets – a total of 12 million baht. So what do you do with the winnings? You distribute methamphetamine pills to your friends for free, of course. The Ban Paew police arrested the vegetable seller-turned local millionaire after winning the lottery ticket last year and turning his kind generosity…
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Thai baht may need another ‘haircut’ by the Bank of Thailand before the end of 2019
Wednesday’s rate cut by the Bank of Thailand has not succeeded in reining in the surging baht, raising the prospect of another interest rate cut by 0.25 of a percentage point before the year-end. While the central bank’s statement on the policy rate reduction didn’t mention the strength of the baht, economists suspect the baht’s strength and its impact on…
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Chinese swimmer drowns at Nai Harn Beach, Phuket
VIDEO: Cetin Demirci An un-named Chinese man has drowned today whilst swimming at Nai Harn Beach. He was dragged back onto the beach after being rescued by an on-duty guard with a surfboard around 4.30pm this afternoon. The beach had red and yellow flags along the shore where the man was swimming meaning that there were lifeguards on duty. The…
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Organisers meet with immigration over TM30 petition – full report
(This post, re-published with permission, has been edited by The Thaiger to clear up the grammar and spelling without changing any of the intentions or meanings. Here it is, in full…) Yesterday, I met the Officer Longtor at Korat immigration. He was very nice, very polite and we had a conversation in Thai. I had with me a copy of…
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Bangkok bus passenger blows a fuse and stabs another passenger
PHOTO: khaosod.co.th A passenger has blown their fuse at a 25 year old busboy travelling near Khlong Toei in the capital. The passenger threw his ticket money away and started yelling at the busboy. Another passenger, witnessing the outburst, went to the aid of the busboy and was stabbed by the angry passenger before he fled the scene. The Tungmahamek…
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Fishermen stranded at sea off Somalia returning to Thailand
PHOTO: mcot.com Some of the Thai fishermen, that have been stranded on two foreign fishing trawlers off the coast of Somalia over the past two weeks, have now returned to Thailand. The rest are expected arrive in the next few days, thanks to work by the Labour and Foreign Affairs ministries. Thai Labour Minister Chatumongol Sonakul and Chatree Athananan, director-general…
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170 billion baht stimulus to focus on tourism as economy plateaus
Inbound tourism to Thailand is about to get a boost with a proposed 170 billion baht government stimulus package . The Finance Ministry will submit the full plan to Cabinet on August 19. Lavaron Sangsnit, the director general for the fiscal policy office, says the package aims to boost inbound tourism, and promote travel within the country by Thai and…
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Currencies and stock exchanges flutter as the dust settles on the latest threats in the US-China trade spat
Central banks in India, Thailand and New Zealand cut interest rates this week in an attempt to fend off any harm from the spiralling US-China trade war. The escalation of the trade war, sparked by fresh US tariff threats by US President Trump over the weekend, is seen as the reason for the policy shift. On Monday, the People’s Bank…
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Thai transport minister agrees to taxi fare hikes in Bangkok
The Ministry of Transport has given approval for taxi fares in Bangkok to go up within a month. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob met with representatives of four Bangkok taxi groups and officials of the Land Transport Department to discuss demand by taxi drivers to hike taxi fares. Taxi drivers have been pleading for an increase for years and have staged…
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Woman leaves behind 10 kilos of gold at Chiang Mai Airport
PHOTOS: sanook.com A mysterious backpack was left laying around the Chiang Mai International Airport on Monday this week at 8.30am. It turned out that a passenger travelling with NokAir, heading to Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, had left the black backpack at a security checkpoint on the way to her flight. Police have reported the story now that the owner…
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Cabinet to consider visa-free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists
The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, says he intends to introduce visa-free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists later this year. He wants to put the proposal to Cabinet as soon as possible. Chins and India are targets for Thailand’s latest tourism promotions, so visa-free-travel is back on the table for urgent consideration. Currently, citizens of both countries have…
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Bank of Thailand cuts policy rate, to 1.5%
The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee has made a surprise decision today to cut the policy interest rate amid pressure to avert an economic slowdown and hedge the heightened trade war between the US and China. The MPC cut the interest rate by only 25 basis points to 1.5 %. But the cut is significant. Of the seven-member committee,…
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Top six tips when visiting Royal Thai Consulate General in Penang
PHOTO: New Royal Thai Consular General in Penang An FOT (Friend of Thaiger) has returned from applying for a visa with the Royal Thai Consulate General in Penang, a popular port to the south of Thailand for ‘southern’ expats and tourists seeking visa upgrades, renewals or even for their first run. Thanks to Daren Jenner for the following tips if…
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UPDATE: Electricity off in parts of Kamala, Phuket TOMORROW (Thursday)
After checking with the PEA we’ve discovered that the outage around Kamala will be tomorrow (Thursday), not Friday as originally published. Electricity will be out around large chunks of Kamala tomorrow (Thursday, August 9). The power outage will be from 9am-5pm, according to the Phuket Electrical Authority. Refer to the map below for details. Areas affected include from the Khao Loob…
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Phoenix still up for grabs in Phuket – AMLO still seeking a buyer
The Thai Anti Money Laundering Office is still trying to auction off the Phoenix, the 30 metre tour boat that sank in July 2018, causing the drowning of 47 Chinese tourists off Phuket’s south east coast. A meeting was held by AMLO officials at the Phuket Provincial Hall this morning to discuss the auction of the boat. Starting bid is 900,000…
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Myanmar’s army controls vast business empire to fuel atrocities – UN report
PHOTO: Front of the Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited building UN investigators have slammed the Myanmar Government saying that tougher sanctions are needed against the country’s wealthy and powerful military officials as their web of economic interests has generated a fortune that helps fund atrocities. The report follows a US travel ban on Myanmar’s army chief last month, the strongest censure yet…
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Three Thai airports being renovated to double passenger volumes
PHOTO: Surat Thani Airport will be doubled in capacity Krabi, Buriram and Surat Thani provincial airports are getting a makeover to double their capacities in 2020, with a combined budget of 11.3 billion baht. Krabi airport will be renovated and expanded to handle double its capacity. The new terminal will be able to handle 8 million passengers a year. A…
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The Philippines declares national dengue epidemic
PHOTO: Philippine Star The Philippines has now declared a national dengue epidemic reporting that the mosquito-borne disease has now killed at least 622 people in the country in 2018. More than 146,000 dengue cases have now been reported in the first seven months of the year, a number almost double last year, according to the The Philippines’ health department. Officials…
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Swedish man and Thai wife robbed in broad daylight riding motorcycle in Pattaya
PHOTOS: Stefan and Tippawan report the robbery to Pattaya police – 77kaoded.com A Swedish man and Thai partner were robbed whilst riding their motorbike in broad daylight in Pattaya. 52 year old Stefan Hujanen from Sweden and his 32 year old wife Tippawan were riding a motorcycle between North Pattaya and Pratumnak Hill last Saturday around 11am. Outside the Muang Pattaya Hospital…
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Superyacht ablaze at the Ao Po Grand Marina in Phuket
PHOTO: Newshawk Phuket A yacht, the ‘Lady D’ caught fire this morning at the Ao Po Grand Marina in the north of Phuket. Marina staff were notified of the fire at 8.25am this morning and called the local fire department. Marina staff called the Marine Police for assistance as well. One fire truck arrived to fight the fire which has…
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