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Israel travel ban rankles Thailand
Thailand wants Israel to reconsider its decision, announced Tuesday, to ban Thais from entering the country in a bid to control the spread of deadly coronavirus (Covid-19). Israel banned all non-Israelis who have been in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau in the previous 14 days. Previously, Israel’s health ministry had imposed only a 14-day house quarantine on visitors from…
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Major condo developers in Bangkok are looking for rental clients
As sales have taken a nosedive since last year, major condominium developers in Bangkok are looking for rental clients. As an example, L.P.N. Development, which developed condominiums and houses under the Lumpini brand, is offering newly-launched condos for rent. The company plans to attract tenants by offering lower or slightly lower rents than the market price for a 3 year…
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Principal beats 10 year old, threatens to kill him and “eat his liver with whisky”
A grandpa in the northeastern province of Surin couldn’t take it anymore and decided to file a police report after a school principal gave his 10 year old grandson a head injury. The statement alleges that the principal threatened to beat the boy to death and to “eat the child’s liver with whisky.” 83 year old “Supon” filed the report…
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Three Thais on Yokohama virus ship have COVID-19 coronavirus
Officials today announced that three Thai nationals aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, moored off Yokohama, are infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus, the same day two elderly Japanese passengers are reported to have died from the disease. Foreign affairs spokesman Cherdkiat Atthakor said three Thais, one passenger and two crew members, are now being treated in hospital in Japan.…
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CORONAVIRUS update: Scientists debunk conspiracies, South Korea cases jump to 82
“We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.” China’s National Health Commission reports there has been 114 new deaths from the coronavirus outbreak bringing the death toll to at least 2,126. 16,433 people have now fully recovered around the world. Around the world, there are 31 new cases in South Korea…
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Hong Kong police on a roll as third suspect in toilet paper heist flushed out
Hong Kong has been gripped by panic buying since the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, as frightened residents hoard essentials like rice and toilet tissue. Now, a third man man has been arrested there for his role in a bizarre toilet paper heist, as a gang aimed to clean up during a run of frenzied buying in the city. The 26 year…
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Korea reports 15 more coronavirus cases, total now 46
South Korea today confirmed 15 more cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus bringing its total number of infections to 46, amid growing concerns that the illness is spreading despite tighter quarantine measures. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 13 new patients were found in Daegu, 300 kilometres southeast of Seoul. It’s presumed they contracted the illness…
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Chinatowns around the world fall quiet over coronavirus fears
Chinatowns around the world, some centuries old, are quiet, as businesses to survive the effects of global concern over the COVID-19 outbreak. Businesses in Australia’s oldest Chinatown enclave, dating back to the influx of fortune-seekers during an 1850s gold rush, report their earnings have dropped by more than half and they have been forced to cut staff hours dramatically, a…
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Prayut visits Korat, offers compensation to shooting victims, families
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha went to Korat, in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, scene of the shooting rampage earlier this month that left 30 dead and 58 wounded. He met with people and families affected by the massacre and offered compensation totalling tens of millions of baht. He and accompanying ministers met locals after praying for peace at the…
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Drug runners killed in Chiang Rai clashes
Police in Chiang Rai province report that three drug smugglers were killed and another arrested in two clashes with security forces near the Burmese border last night. A total of 400,000 methamphetamine pills and 7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine were seized. The first clash occurred about 9:30pm after a number of pickup trucks and motorbikes were spotted crossing the border…
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137 Thai evacuees head home after 14 day quarantine
137 Thai evacuees, repatriated from the Chinese city of Wuhan on February 4, were given a warm farewell as they started on their journeys back home from the Royal Thai Navy’s Sattahip base, south of Pattaya this morning. The Thai Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutaecha, Chon Buri governor Pakkarathorn Thienchai, naval officers and medical personnel sent the group on…
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Passengers leave Yokohama virus ship, China toll tops 2000
Passengers onboard the Diamond Princess, the coronavirus-wracked cruise ship which has been quarantined in Yokohama’s harbour for two weeks, began disembarking today after testing negative for the disease that has now claimed more than 2,000 lives in China. The ship proved a fertile breeding ground for the COVID-19 coronavirus, with at least 542 positive cases, the largest cluster of confirmed…
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Bangkok gunman arrested this morning in Phetchaburi
A lone, jealous gunman, who killed his ex-wife in her place of employment in a shopping centre near Victory Monument yesterday afternoon, has been arrested. The 34 year old gunman was arrested in a home in Phetchaburi, south west of Bangkok, at 4.30am today. He has been charged with pre-meditated murder, illegal possession of a weapon and carrying a gun…
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Gunman allegedly shoots and kills ex-wife at mall in Bangkok, another injured
Bangkok police report that a woman was shot and killed and a bystander wounded after a man opened fire in a shopping centre this afternoon. The gunman fled the scene straight after the shooting. He’s still at large. The incident took place in front of a beauty clinic inside Century Movie Plaza, near the Victory Monument. The clinic is identified…
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1 dead, 1 injured in Bangkok mall shooting, gunman escapes
One woman is dead and a bystander injured after a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall in downtown Bangkok on this afternoon. The incident occurred in front of a beauty clinic inside Century Movies Plaza, just steps away from a tourist shopping area. The victim killed was a 28 year old employee of the clinic, while the injured victim…
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Thailand’s General Motors plant sold to China’s Great Wall Motors
China’s Great Wall Motors has agreed to buy the General Motors’ Thailand manufacturing plant in Rayong. It’s expected than the transaction will be completed by the end of this year. GM announced this week that it is accelerating a retreat from “unprofitable markets”, becoming more dependent on the US, China, Latin America and South Korea for its manufacturing. Read more about…
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Cambodia’s carelessness over coronavirus could bring disaster
When passengers from the MS Westerdam disembarked in Sihanoukville, Cambodia on Valentine’s Day last week, it was smiles and handshakes all around, as Prime minister Hun Sen greeted them with roses. Protective masks were nowhere to be seen. Not only did the PM not wear one, his bodyguards ordered people wearing masks to take them off. The next day, the…
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World travel suffers as coronavirus outbreak drags on
The Public Health Ministry is asking Thais planning trips to Japan and Singapore to reschedule their visits, saying that travellers need to be aware of the rising number of people infected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) in those two countries. Dr Sukhum Kanchanapima, the permanent secretary at the Thai Public Health Ministry, says the coronavirus outbreak had reached the third stage…
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The Great Hong Kong Toilet Roll Heist of 2020
And now from the files of the ‘Laws of Unintended Consequences’, a coronavirus story with a twist. Police in Hong Kong have arrested two men and are still searching for a third following a toilet paper roll heist. Some 600 paper rolls were stolen in a panic-theft linked to shortages over the coronavirus. Yesterday morning a delivery was being made…
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Thai government ponders nine day Songkran holiday
With the impact of the coronavirus cutting deep into the Thai tourism industry, and tourism accounting for around 18% of the Thai GDP, the government are eyeing some additional public holidays to boost spending and activity. The Thai PM announced yesterday that the government is considering adding two public holidays to the annual Songkran festival. Songkran, the Thai new year…
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German man dead after jumping from Pattaya condo, refusing medical assistance
A 34 year old German man is dead after he argued with his girlfriend and jumped from his fourth floor condominium in Pattaya this morning. He initially survived the fall, but refused medical assistance. Pattaya City Police were notified of the incident at 5am. Police, emergency responders and reporters arrived at the scene to find the man sitting on the…
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Chon Buri sugarcane vendor dragged behind motorbike after thief steals his phone
An elderly sugarcane vendor in Chon Buri province’s Sattahip district sufferered multiple injuries when a potential customer stole his phone and tried to speed off on his motorbike, leading the vendor to grab onto the bike in a desperate attempt to to get it phone back. 63 year old Chaiyapat Warawan says a young Thai man about 20 years old…
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Countdown to reopening – contracts awards for new Maya Bay infrastructure
by Sawat, Five Star Thailand Tours New plans are now being enacted which will lead to the re-opening of Maya Bay to tourism again. With a new development project in the works, it won’t be long until visitors will once again be able to visit ‘The Beach’, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. Maya Bay was shut down to…
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Cooler weather in north, cloud and possible rain in south
The TMD (Thailand Meteorological Department) says that another high-pressure system originating in China is covering Thailand’s north-east and affecting weather in the South China Sea, while weak easterly winds continue to prevail across the Gulf of Thailand. The forecast is that cool to cold conditions will prevails in the mornings across the North and the Northeast. Temperatures in the North…
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Three Thai lottery winners take home 6 million baht each
781403. That’s the magic six numbers you needed for yesterday’s lottery, which would award you with a grand prize of 6 million baht if you had a winning lottery ticket. Three people won, a convenience store owner in Nakhon Ratchasima and married couple from Rayong. Suwarn Sinthao bought her ticket hoping to win a three-number prize of 4,000 baht but…
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Toilet paper vs bum gun – which one is better?
Put down your knife and fork. We’re going to talk about bumguns, arse-blasters and Number 2s. Let’s take a moment and travel to a western country and sit on the toilet. We do whatever we need to do and then… where’s the water gun? Instead you’re confronted with a roll of toilet paper, patterned or otherwise (why?!) Asian people have been…
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Police say the ‘Skullbreaker Challenge’ could lead to injury, death and jail terms
Thai Police are warning teenagers against copycat versions of a idiotic and dangerous craze known as the ‘Skullbreaker Challenge’ citing victims ending up with spine and head injuries. And even death. The online fad, gaining notoriety on social media, involves tricking someone into jumping into the air before friends on either side kick the player’s legs out causing them to fall heavily…
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Thai Airways starts to trim back schedules due to loss of demand
Thai Airways is cutting back services to South Korea and Singapore out of Bangkok due to “a dramatic fall in demand” and cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The vice president of sales at Thai Airways, Nond Kalinta, says the national carrier had adjusted flight schedules to match commercial demand. He confirmed the following changes. • Flights reduce on the…
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A week after Korat massacre, questions remain
A week after a rogue soldier went on a shooting spree, killing 29 and injuring 58, no one seems willing to take responsibility for the Army’s lack of security, which allowed the man to raid an armoury, steal weapons of war and kill and maim innocent civilians, Thailand Today reports. The massacre has prompted many, from all walks of life,…
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Disabled Belgian man busted by Chon Buri’s “smart car”
A 57 year old Belgian man, who is disabled and uses a walker for mobility, was arrested earlier this week in Chon Buri province for overstaying his visa. Immigration officers found the man behind the Burapha hospital in the Bang Saen area on Thursday. They were using Chonburi Immigration’s new “smart car,” which allegedly identified the man using facial recognition…
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