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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
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Phuket’s Banyan Tree celebrates 25 year anniversary with new Serenity Villas
2019 is a year of celebration for Banyan Tree Phuket, with the resort offering two brand new villa categories, as part of its year-long 25th anniversary celebration. In September this year, the iconic Banyan Tree Phuket, the flagship property for Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, will celebrate 25 years as Phuket’s premier holiday resort. The festivities will include the release…
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Gary Stevens takes up head coaching at Black Mountain Hua Hin football academy
(contact details below) A former England, Totttenham and Brighton football player, Gary Stevens, will start coaching at the Black Mountain Hua Hin Football Academy this September. Gary is a 1984 UEFA Cup winner and 1986 World Cup veteran. He made 204 appearances for Tottenham between 1983 and 1990 but is excited to pursue a challenge outside of the professional game. He managed…
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Thai man electrocuted whilst laying on his bed in Pattaya
PHOTO: Thai Rath A man has died in Nong Prue, the suburbs behind Pattaya city, as a result of being electrocuted whilst his phone was charging next to his bed. Relatives believe the incident happened early sometime on Sunday. Police were called to an address in Soi 15, Thing Klom – Tan Man, Nong Prue on Sunday evening. 21 year old…
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Thailand keeping track of foreigners – the TM30 reporting form
The TM30 reporting procedure is a Thai immigration requirement. The form is designed to assist keeping track of foreigners – tourists and expats – whilst in Thailand. It must be completed by the owner or landlord to report the stay of guests within 24 hours of their arrival. As with many things in Thailand the enforcement will not be uniformly applied…
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Old food pavilion collapses dumping over 20 people into Samut Songkram river
PHOTO: Public Relations Department – Samut Songkhram Rescue workers are scouring the Mae Klong River in Samut Songkram, west of Bangkok, for four missing people after an old ferryboat shelter on a river bank collapsed yesterday, plunging more than two dozen people into the water. One person has died and at least 19 others injured when the riverside food pavilion…
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King urges new cabinet to solve problems for Thailand’s happiness and security
PHOTO: Thai PBS “In the process of doing a job, there will be problems, and that it was normal that they must be solved at the core so the administration of the country can proceed smoothly.” – HM The King His Majesty has offered moral support to PM Prayut and the newly sworn-in cabinet ministers, urging them to perform their…
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Thai Airways close to sale of used planes to US company
PHOTO: Thai Airways Airbus A340, Airplane Pictures Thai Airways International President Sumeth Damrongchaitham reports that the national airline expects to sign an agreement this month with a US logistics firm on the sale of eight used A340 aircraft worth between 4-4.5 billion baht. The company is in the process of examining the contract before closing the sale deal of Thai Airways…
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HM The King swears in new Prayut Cabinet
The new Palang Pracharat government, led by Prayut Chan-o-cha has been sworn in tonight by His Majesty The King. The ceremony heralding the return of civilian rule in Thailand after five years of military government. The ceremony took place at 6pm in the Amphorn Satharn Throne Hall with all 36 ministers were present. The historic occasion marked the first time…
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Dengue alert declared in The Philippines
PHOTO: Philippine Star Dengue cases have doubled in Thailand this year. And in The Philippines a similar situation is unfolding. Health authorities in The Philippines are declaring a national dengue alert after a spike in cases leaving more than 450 people dead since the start of 2019. Around 100,000 dengue cases were reported across The Philippines in the first six…
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Document agent nabbed in Pattaya for helping foreigners get driving licences
PHOTO: Naew Na A Thai female has been arrested for helping foreigners obtain Thai driving licences illegally and register their vehicles with fake stamps and documentation. Naew Na report that 44 year old Wikanda “Vicki” Munghangern was arrested in a sting outside her office which is, conveniently, located near the Bang Lamung Department of Land Transport. Polcie allege the woman…
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Thai couple walk away from dramatic road crash
PHOTOS: Sanook A blue sedan has split in two in a dramatic incident on a road leading to the Ngam Wong Wan Road in Bangkok’s northern suburbs. Sanook reports that a Thai couple have escaped totally unscathed after the man admitted to police that he lost control after hitting a rock and slammed into roadside barriers. The 29 year old…
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More currencies in Asia strengthen – Indonesian rupiah crosses major threshold
The Thai baht isn’t the only Asian currency performing well against some of the western currencies. The Indonesian rupiah has strengthened 0.54% to 13,932 to the US dollar yesterday (Monday) from 14,008 on Friday. It became the best performing currency in Asia, though other currencies in the region have also also strengthened: Yesterday there was improvement of 0.19% for the…
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Weather warning for southern and eastern Thailand
Five day forecasts for Phuket, Pattaya and Koh Samui below The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a weather warning to alert people to approaching heavy rains and strong winds in the South. The TMD predicts more rain from from today up to July 21 in the Southern and Eastern regions due to a tropical depression approaching westward from the Pacific,…
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Phantom V wins Multihull Solutions Regatta in Phuket
PHOTOS: Phuket Yacht Club The 2019 Multihull Solutions Regatta has been run and won after the final day of excellent racing conditions off southern Phuket. The Stealth catamaran Phantom V with its boat builders Alan Carwardine and Roger Diggleman on board, as well as owner Andrew Hurford, won the Racing Multihull Division of the 2019 Multihull Solutions Regatta. Its four…
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Military relinquish power as the new Thai cabinet prepares to be sworn in today
“Thailand is now fully a democratic country with a constitutional monarchy, with a parliament whose members are elected.” Thai PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha has formally stepped down as the head of the NCPO military junta saying Thailand will now function as a normal democracy after five years of army rule. Prayut’s “normal democracy” includes a loaded upper house of Senators all appointed…
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‘Irishman’ nabbed after 11 year overstay in north-east Thailand
PHOTO: Naew Na Nakhon Ratchasima Immigration, along with local tourist police, have arrested an Irishman,Samuel Caleb Birch, who has been on an overstay of 4,192 days. That’s nearly 11 years and six months! According to Naew Na, the man was arrested at a restaurant in Soi Moo Ban Yamo 5, Ban Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, north-east Thailand. According to his visa, he arrived…
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Vietnam pushing to be leading digital economy in ASEAN by 2030
Excerpts from Viet Nam News – Asia News Network Vietnam wants to be the leading digital economy in ASEAN by 2030. A draft project on national digital transformation by Vietnam’s Authority of Information Technology Application (AITA) is being submitted for approval in November. The project aims to develop the Vietnamese economy based on digital technologies. Speaking at a conference this week to review MIC’s…
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Another sea turtle saved from a random trawling net in Phuket
PHOTOS: Andaman Flying Tiger Today (July 15), local seniors have discovered a sea turtle trapped inside an old fishing net (trawl) at Mai Khao beach along the northern west coast of Phuket. The turtle was luckily uninjured and was rescued, then released back to the ocean. Excellent photos from Andaman Flying Tiger.
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Digging into the Phuket hotel data
by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks As Phuket’s hotel operators and owners face a disruptive 2019, we thought it was time to do a deep dig into the island’s accommodation performance metrics. Global hospitality data and analytics group STR was the logical resource, so we spoke to their Area Director Asia Pacific, Jesper Palmqvist. The following are key takeaways from the highly focused…
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Thai farmers and residents from four provinces unhappy about proposed motorway
About 100 affected residents and farmers, from the Phetchaburi, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi and Nakhon Pathom provinces, are demanding the Thai Department of Highways scrap their environmental impact statements and start again. The protests are over the 109 kilometre Nakhon Pathom to Cha-am Motorway. A seminar was held over the weekend called “The Future of Petchaburi and the Motorway to the…
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New Thai cabinet to be sworn in Tuesday in Bangkok
PHOTO: Amphorn Satharn Throne Hall The new Thai cabinet will be sworn in tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Amphorn Satharn Throne Hall in Bangkok near the Dusit Palace, 3 kilometres north of the Grand Palace. The announcement was made by the the Secretariat of the Cabinet over the weekend. All 36 Cabinet appointees will travel by shuttle leaving the Phakdee Bordin…
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Human bones found in Srisoonthorn, Phuket
Thalang Police were called to a site yesterday (Sunday), 150 metres from the Baan Ua Arthorn housing estate in Srisoonthorn, central Phuket, just before 3pm. There they found remains of a human skeleton. According to police reports, a local fruit vendor headed to the area to collecting papayas when he discovered the human skeletal remains under a tree. He then ran out…
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Heading south at speed: The China–Laos railway
by Selina Ho, NUS Laos is dependent on China to bankroll the US$7 billion project, raising concerns of being caught in a debt trap The Kunming-Vientiane link will eventually connect with a railway line to Bangkok, and southward down the Malay peninsula to Singapore The Laos section of the project is now half complete Construction on the China–Laos railway began in…
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Opposition’s early assault on the new Thai government
PHOTO: Nikkei Asian Review Seven-parties in the new parliamentary opposition are targeting July 25 in the next sitting to censure the new Thai government as well as some individual ministers. Pheu Thai deputy leader and an opposition whip, Chavalit Vichayasuth, says that the Opposition’s debate on the government’s policy statement will be a rehearsal for the real no-confidence debate to…
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Thai TV star faces legal battle to regain custody of her daughter after daylight abduction in Phuket
PHOTO: says.com A baby has been abducted in Phuket as Thai police investigate a complaint filed by her mother. Last Friday, police were seeking to interview the father and husband of the UK Thai former ‘supermodel’. It follows a dramatic midday abduction on the outskirts of Phuket where the 25 year old woman was ‘imprisoned in her car’ as a…
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Thaksin Shinawatra starting new party called Pheu Dharma
Despite his self-imposed exile in 2008 and living overseas ever since, Thaksin Shinawatra’s shadow still looms large over Thai politics. And now sources claim he’s planning a comeback with a new party, all being engineered offshore, just as the fragile new Thai government starts to run the country. Fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra is rumoured to be forming a new…
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BTS Skytrain stations get maintenance checks after falling concrete
It wasn’t the sky falling. It was the Skytrain Station falling on a road in Bangkok. The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) has announced maintenance work underway at 22 BTS Skytrain stations after a concrete slab fell from the Ari station onto the road below, just missing drivers. Executive director of the BTSC Surapong Laoha-Unya said they prioritised the safety…
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Bank of Thailand sends a ‘warning shot’, but little impact
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times “The Bank of Thailand’s move to curb the rising baht is simply a “warning shot” and will have little impact on the currency’s value or on the bond and stock markets.” This is the response from Thai economists following Friday’s BOT tweaking of the economic dials. On Friday the BOT adjusted down the amount of baht…
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Thailand’s tourism – stormy weather ahead
Thailands tourism industry finds itself in stormy weather as a falloff in visitors spook trade, even forcing candid admissions from some of Thailand’s tourism chiefs. Thailand has suffered a slump in tourism figures since the beginning of the year as hoteliers and tourism trade leaders have confirmed a huge 20 to 30% drop for June in tourist numbers and trade…
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Strong winds greet sailors on Day One of Multihull Solutions Regatta in Phuket
One of the region’s most exciting sailing regattas kicked off yesterday (Saturday) off the coast of Chalong in southern Phuket. The Multihull Solutions Regatta beings together some of the fastest racing yachts in Asia. Day one of the 12th annual Multihull Solutions Regatta was delayed for an hour due to strong shifting winds gusting to 31 knots. PRO Simon James…
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