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Chiang Mai madam arrested over underage gay sex shop
A team of police and provincial officers have arrested a transgender woman on charges of operating a brothel after raiding a Chiang Mai massage shop. 2 young masseurs were caught in the sting operation on Tuesday night. The arrested woman identified herself as the manager of the shop although police believe she’s the owner of the business. Authorities say the…
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Last Qantas 747 flight draws kangaroo logo in the sky to mark final voyage – VIDEO
The Qantas Boeing 747 has taken to the skies for the last time, marking its final journey by drawing the airline’s famous kangaroo logo in the sky. The design could be seen on flight radar maps as the aircraft, affectionately known as the Queen of the Skies, ascended out of Sydney for the last time. It flew over the Harbour…
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Sudden downpour floods Pattaya’s main roads
More rain in Pattaya today brining flooding to some of the ‘usual’ spots and affecting traffic. The mid-afternoon downpour flooded Pattaya’s major arteries, causing water up to 50 centimetres deep on some of the roads, including (of course) Beach Road. The rain battered the seaside city for around 2 hours. The Bangkok-Pattaya motorway was also hit by the sudden downpour…
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“Priceless” ancient manuscripts vanish from university, feared stolen and sold
“Hundreds” of priceless historical manuscripts have been stolen from the Arts and Cultural Centre of the Nakhon Si Thammarat Rabhabhat University. A senior monk said the ancient folding-book paper manuscripts, known as “samut khoi”, contained stories and drawings featuring local history, traditions and culture, and might have been stolen and sold to people unaware that they belonged to the university.…
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Chiang Mai eatery fined for alcohol promotion
A Chiang Mai restaurant is warning other eateries to be very careful about promoting alcohol after being raided and fined. Police went to Ai ToMoE restaurant in Chiang Mai after a tip that it was promoting beer in its 499 baht buffet menu, according to the restaurant’s Facebook post yesterday. Offices arrested the chef, named “Boy”, and fined him 50,000…
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Isaan students say they’ll defy protest ban
Students at Isaan’s Mahasarakham University say they’re going ahead with a planned anti-government rally despite a ban from the institution. Organisers of the protest made the announcement earlier today. The university initially said yesterday that any rallies held on campus grounds must abide by the laws and refrain from anti-monarchy rhetoric. The university later revised its policy and banned all…
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Government says Emergency Decree extension won’t ban protests
Although the Emergency Decree was officially extended again today, through the end of August, the government says political gatherings and rallies won’t be banned. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha approved the extension earlier today but officials insist the emergency measures are strictly for guarding against the resurgence of Covid-19 and unrelated to the ongoing protests. According to the secretary-general of the National…
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310 out of 50,000 repatriates tested positive for Covid-19: minister
Thailand’s foreign affairs minister has reported to the Senate that full assistance is being provided to Thai nationals stranded overseas due to the Covid-19 world pandemic. This is despite the recent controversy surrounding an Egyptian airman visiting Thailand who tested positive after visiting shopping spots in the eastern Rayong province. The minister responded to questions from Senators, pointing out that…
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Bangkok police seize fake drugs, cosmetics, supplements in factory raid
Police and officers of the Food and Drug Administration seized 119 items made using hazardous substances and sporting fake labels in a raid on an illegal factory near Bangkok’s Pratunam intersection. The products were valued at 200,000 baht. The FDA reported the production of illegal healthcare products, which led police to Tofu Skincare based in the capitol’s Ratchathewi district. The…
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Woman says emergency operator joked and hung up on her as father lay dying
A young woman in Ratchaburi province, western Thailand, says an emergency operator joked that he couldn’t hear her, then said, “beep, beep” before hanging up on her. The woman, 18 year old Pronrawin Ongpisut, was trying to reach emergency services to help her dying father. The man has since passed away. A report in Coconuts says Pronrawin first called the…
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PM approves Emergency Decree extension
PM Prayut Chan O’Cha has signed off on a proposal by the National Security Council and the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration to extend the Emergency Decree until the end of August. The Emergency Decree gives the government sweeping powers to manage the Covid-19 crisis at the national level from a “top down” perspective. It also provides draconian penalties for…
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Video catches Thai immigration officials asking for a bribe
Officers from an immigration office near Bangkok have been “suspended” after a Facebook video showed an immigration official asking for money to help “speed up his visa process”. The caption read… “This is real, such a shame, when will the cheating stop”. “Thailand is good, foreigners get Visas to work in the country. They go to the Nonthaburi Immigration for…
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Bangkok entertainment venues still face strict safety checks
Although there have been no community transmitted cases of Covid-19 in Thailand for 60 days, a deputy governor in Bangkok is urging authorities and the public not to let their guards down, after details were revealed in the case of a Sudanese diplomat’s daughter who tested positive for the virus. The deputy governor chaired a meeting yesterday in which he…
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Bangkok university professor says no “travel bubbles” for at least 6 months
A professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University says Thailand’s “travel bubble” plan, which would allow small groups of foreign tourists to visit Thailand, should be put on hold for at least another 6 months. In a Facebook post yesterday, he said that the global Covid-19 situation remains “of serious concern”, as new infections are still surging, with more than 200,000 new…
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5 killed during heavy flooding in northern Vietnam
Heavy rains and flooding in the far north of Vietnam are causing havoc. So far at least 5 people, including 3 children have died in the Ha Giang Province. The region has experienced heavy flooding over the past 3 days due to torrential rains causing traffic jams, landslides and cutting off some remote areas. Streets in the region’s main towns…
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Welfare officials visit homeless people living in Pattaya’s abandoned bars
Social welfare officials have paid a visit to a group of homeless people in Pattaya, who have taken refuge in some of the city’s abandoned beer bar complexes. Following a report in The Pattaya News, officials pledged to allow those living there to continue to do so and to provide them with further help. Most of them have lost their…
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South east Asia’s budget airline dilemma
South east Asia’s low-cost carriers are staggering as demand plunges, and countries are ever-wary about re-opening their borders, raising questions whether they will be needing any new planes in the short to medium term. Malaysia’s AirAsia Group and Vietnam’s VietJet are publicly canvassing their cashflow and funding problems. Indonesia’s Lion Air has shelved a planned flotation this year. But prior…
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Extension of visa amnesty, extension of emergency decree
In a big day of important announcements, the Cabinet has approved an extension to the emergency decree as well as an extension to the visa amnesty for foreigners. The extension of the visa amnesty will now run until September 26. It now allows foreigners to stay in Thailand without renewing their visa as long as their visa did not expire before…
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Protesters start a hunger strike out the front of Government House
A group calling themselves the New Life Network is staging a hunger strike at the front of Government House, again calling for PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha to stand down and dissolve parliament. They are complaining that the economy is getting worse and that the gap between Thailand’s rich and poor is widening. They say the situation has deteriorated since the military…
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Thai Cabinet extends the visa amnesty for foreigners
The Thai Cabinet has extended the visa amnesty for foreigners so they can remain in Thailand during the Covid-19 global pandemic. This is the second extension to the visa amnesty and will be a huge relief for tens of thousands of people who have been in a visa limbo, some without many other options other than staying in Thailand whilst…
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CCSA recommend an extension to the emergency decree in Thailand
It has been decided to extend the emergency decree beyond the end of July 31. The National Security Council and the CCSA (Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration) have jointly agreed to extend the situation and will present the proposal to the Thai PM tomorrow. Opponents of the decree say the emergency decree is unnecessary now that Thailand has had 55 days…
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Nearly 80% of Thai prisoners able to find jobs following training during detention
The Thai Corrections Department is considering using foreign prisoners to teach English to other prisoners as part of their occupational training. Thailand’s Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin has suggested the idea during a meeting between his ministry and the Thai Labour Minister. They both signed an agreement to step up further cooperation between the Thai Justice and Labour ministries to come up…
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Navy officer jumps in to save driver after car plunges into Chon Buri canal
An officer from the Royal Thai Navy has been thanked by the driver he rescued after the man’s car plunged into a canal in Sattahip, in the eastern province of Chon Buri. Lieutenant Commander Boonlert Kunmkrong says he checked his rear-view mirror while driving and saw the car behind him enter the canal. He stopped his vehicle and jumped into…
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Buri Ram school cleaner claims he was sacked for exposing a predatory teacher
A 50 year old former cleaner at a school in Buri Ram, north east Thailand, has come forward and told police he was sacked 4 months ago because “he knew too much about a teacher”, who was an alleged sexual predator. A number of stories appeared during May and June about predatory school teachers in the north east. Nation Thailand…
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Hong Kong facing prospect of curfew amid rise in Covid-19 cases
Medical experts are warning that a curfew may have to be imposed after Hong Kong has seen nearly 500 new cases of Covid-19 in the last week. Yesterday alone saw 73 new cases with 66 being community transmitted. However, officials say they have only identified the sources of transmission for around 30 of those reported cases. A restaurant at the…
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“Ghost-riding” bikers charged after leaving scene of fatal accident
A woman, who allegedly caused a fatal road accident, has told police that she didn’t stop to help the victims because “others were helping”. 50 year old Jampa Boonmajuab was riding her bike in the wrong direction, or “ghost-riding” as it is commonly referred to, which caused the death of one woman and injured another. The accident occurred in Samut…
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Thai Army wants to purchase 1.35 billion baht replacement VIP plane
With most of the country’s fleets of commercial jets grounded due to the bans on international travel and limited domestic flights, the Thai Army says they’re planning to buy a new aircraft for “general use”. The plane is reported to be a Gulfstream 500 private jet valued at 1.35 billion baht. The plane would be bought under the 2021 fiscal…
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Staff injured, property damaged as gang rampages through 2 Bangkok hospitals
Gang members have gone on a rampage through 2 Bangkok hospitals, injuring medical personnel and causing significant damage to property. Violence first erupted at Vibharam-Chaiprakan Hospital in Samut Prakan, just south of the city, when doctors were unable to save the life of one gang member who’d been injured in a fight a few hours before. His death led to…
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Thailand pries open its borders for Phase 6 of re-openings
Phase 6 is on the way which will allow more groups of foreigners back into Thailand and pry open the borders another incremental step. The next phase will allow the entry of foreign migrant workers from neighbouring countries to ease a current labour shortage. The two industries for migrant worker re-entry are the construction industry and food export businesses. CCSA spokesman…
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Police meet to discus legal action against pro-democracy protesters and organisers
Following Saturday’s large protest at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument on Saturday afternoon and evening, Bangkok police are now pondering whether to prosecute the organisers for defying the emergency decree – the part of the law that prohibits large public gatherings. The protesters were demanding the dissolution of Parliament, the drawing up of a new Constitution and an end to official limitation…
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