Thailand News

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  • Bank of Thailand ups policy rate to 1.75 percent, first rise in 7 years

    Bank of Thailand ups policy rate to 1.75 percent, first rise in 7 years

    The Bank of Thailand has increased its policy rate by 25 points, up from 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent. It’s the first rise in seven years. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 5:2 to raise the one-day repurchase rate to 1.75 percent with immediate effect after the rate was kept unchanged for seven years, noting that the need to depend on relaxed…

  • POP – Thailand’s first satellite-based rain algorithm

    POP – Thailand’s first satellite-based rain algorithm

    The daily forecast gives us an approximate idea of expected weather and rain. But now researchers have a new tool which will provide much more accurate predictions of precipitation around the Kingdom. The system will be an invaluable tool for water management and flood prevention. They’ve successfully developed Thailand’s first satellite-based algorithm to accurately estimate rainfall. “We call this algorithm…

  • “The Election Commission can decide” – PM on foreign observers for election

    “The Election Commission can decide” – PM on foreign observers for election

    Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is making it clear that the Election Commission (EC) are the sole authority to decide whether or not to allow foreign observers to monitor the election scheduled for February 24, 2019. But, Gen Prayut insisted that Thailand must solve its own internal problems to ensure transparency and fairness in order to restore international community’s confidence in…

  • Civil groups urge political parties to strengthen national welfare net

    Civil groups urge political parties to strengthen national welfare net

    Just last week a report was released claiming that Thailand is the most ‘un-equal’ country in the world, in the same company as Turkey, Russia and India. The Government swiftly dissed the report, deeming it as ‘unreliable’. You can read about that report HERE. Now the We Fair Network of 13 peak organisations has presented its proposals for reform of…

  • Driver killed and eight injured in passenger van crash

    Driver killed and eight injured in passenger van crash

    PHOTOS: js100.com Eight South Korean tourists have been injured in a fatal passenger van accident in Chachoengsao today. In this case it’s alleged that the speeding van they were travelling in hit the rear of a pickup truck whilst it was making a U-turn. It also hit a motorcycle, before colliding with a concrete barrier at noon today. The driver…

  • Digital driving license coming to Thailand next year

    Digital driving license coming to Thailand next year

    Stopped at a checkpoint? Fossiciking around in your bag for your license and ID? A new app will be launched in January in which motorists will be able to show their credentials to any law enforcement officer in Thailand. This means you will no longer have to carry a physical license with you.The police will be able to scan a…

  • Surachete doubles down on expelling illegal foreigners

    Surachete doubles down on expelling illegal foreigners

    “I want to keep the number at zero.” Immigration Bureau chief Surachate Hakparn is admitting that the frequent and highly public crackdowns on immigration suspects living in Thailand illegally is making other foreigners feel uncomfortable. But he says the Bureau’s success in the X-Ray Foreigner campaigns outweighs the concerns of expats. He has once again claimed that the number of…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Monday

    Thaiger Radio News – Monday

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  • Royal Decree for February 24 election has been sent to HM the King

    Royal Decree for February 24 election has been sent to HM the King

    PHOTO: Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam – The Nation The Royal Decree on the election of members to the parliament has already been submitted to His Majesty the King for his Royal approval, according to the Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam. He reaffirmed that the election date remains unchanged on February 24, but the date for advance voting for overseas voters…

  • Sedan careers into family food shop in Tak

    Sedan careers into family food shop in Tak

    PHOTO: The Nation A couple running a roadside family food shop in Tak’s Mae Sot district have been injured following a car making an unexpected ‘drive thru’ attempt. Tak is on Thailand’s western border with Myanmar. The incident occurred last night when a car driven by a Burmese man slammed into it. Police were seeking to determine whether Aung So,…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Sunday

    Thaiger Radio News – Sunday

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  • Phichit collision kills three, injures four

    Phichit collision kills three, injures four

    A pick-up has flipped, throwing workers off the back tray, killing them when they crashed into another pick-up in Phichit this morning, in central Thailand. Three people were killed and four others injured when the pick-up smashed into another pick-up truck transporting construction workers. The accident happened at 8.30am on highway No 115 linking Sam Ngam and Muang district in…

  • Foreigners will be allowed to serve as arbitrators – NLA votes

    Foreigners will be allowed to serve as arbitrators – NLA votes

    The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has voted to pass the draft amended Arbitration Act in its first reading which will allow foreigners to serve as arbitrators in Thailand. The NLA yesterday voted 139-0 with 2 abstentions to pass the bill amending the 2002 Arbitration Act in its first reading. Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, who presented the draft bill, told legislators…

  • Blood is thicker than water. But not always in Thai politics.

    Blood is thicker than water. But not always in Thai politics.

    PHOTOS: The Nation, Thai PBS The Juangroongruangkit family may share genes and parts of the family empire. But there’s one thing they can’t agree on. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the young and charismatic leader of the new Future Forward party, has tow members of his immediate family show have teamed up with the pro-government Palang Pracharat party. In an interview, Thanathorn says he regretted…

  • Thailand’s digital economy and data use to expand x 4 in the next 3 years

    Thailand’s digital economy and data use to expand x 4 in the next 3 years

    by Nophakhun Limsamarnphun Data use in the country’s fast-paced digital economy is forecast to jump four times over the next three years, resulting in massive demand and growth for data storage facilities. The managing director of Supernap Thailand, Sunita Bottse, says that the number of Thailand’s mobile device users has reached 46 million out of the country’s 69 million population, while…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

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  • Thaiger Radio News – Friday

    Thaiger Radio News – Friday

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  • PM comes under attack after political bans lifted

    PM comes under attack after political bans lifted

    Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and his governmental coming under attack from politicians taking advantage of the junta’s lifting of political restrictions. The ban was officially lifted on Tuesday allowing commentary about politics, including criticism of other politicians and parties. Most of the parties who have been speaking up so far are linked to fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin has…

  • Thailand’s Islamic council bans children under 17 from marrying

    Thailand’s Islamic council bans children under 17 from marrying

    by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun The Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT)’s has passed a new regulation banning children under the age of 17 from marriage. But there is a loophole in the new regulation. Thailand’s Islamic council has, for the first time, issued a ban on child marriage nationwide. This follows public anger sparked by the marriage back in July of…

  • Finance Minister foreshadows slowing economy in 2019

    Finance Minister foreshadows slowing economy in 2019

    “We expect the GDP growth for 2019 to be at least 4 per cent. However, the economic growth for 2019 is expected to be slower than 2018,” Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong predicts Thailand will encounter slower economic growth in 2019,. The Minister cites uncertainty from the trade war between China and the US, the upcoming Thai election and a slump…

  • New WHO world road death report – Thailand drops to number 8 but still high

    New WHO world road death report – Thailand drops to number 8 but still high

    Thailand’s roads remain some of the deadliest in the world. But the Kingdom has dropped from its previous number two position to number eight, behind a collection of backwater African states and other undeveloped countries. A new report by the World Health Organisation shows that the road safety situation in Thailand hasn’t improved. The shocking news is outlined in a…

  • Foreign Ministry assisting wife of Thai slain in France

    Foreign Ministry assisting wife of Thai slain in France

    Thai Foreign Ministry officials are working with French authorities to assist the wife of a Thai tourist who was among three people killed by a gunman last night at a famous Strasbourg Christmas market in France. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaksat says the Thai embassy in Paris had reported the death of 45 year old Anupong Suebsamarn, and contacted…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Wednesday

    Thaiger Radio News – Wednesday

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  • Testimony continues during poaching trial of Premchai Karnasutra

    Testimony continues during poaching trial of Premchai Karnasutra

    PHOTOS: The Nation The provincial court in Kanchanaburi’s Thong Pha Phum district heard testimony from three policemen yesterday. This was the seventh prosecution-witness session in the “black leopard” trial for alleged poaching against Italian-Thai construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta and three associates. With the court having set aside 10 sessions for the prosecution witnesses to take the stand, 15 witnesses had…

  • Political ban lifted ahead of February 24 election

    Political ban lifted ahead of February 24 election

    The Thai Junta, aka NCPO, has today lifted restrictions on political activities that have been in effect since the May 2014 military coup. The Nation reports the the lifts a previous prohibition on political parties holding meetings or organising political activities. The cancelled restrictions include the ban on political gatherings of five or more people. The Royal Gazette has published…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday

    Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday

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  • Wealthy Thai woman boasts online about her welfare card

    Wealthy Thai woman boasts online about her welfare card

    PHOTOS: Sanook Thais have take to social media slamming an apparently woman boasting about using a Thai welfare card intended for the poor. The woman was wearing a gold necklace and other expensive looking jewelry, was showing money to the camera and sitting in the driver’s seat of a car. Netizens say she was ripping off the state and depriving the needy. But some are…

  • HM King provides funerals for two Un Ai Rak cyclists

    HM King provides funerals for two Un Ai Rak cyclists

    His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn has agreed to sponsor the funerals for of two cyclists who collapsed while participating in the Bike Un Ai Rak bicycle ride on Sunday. One in Surat Thani and another in Ratchaburi the province rides. The two died following emergency medical attention. HM the King had a royal wreath sent to Wat Don Kathin, Poonpin…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Monday

    Thaiger Radio News – Monday

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  • Government says inequality report is ‘unreliable’

    Government says inequality report is ‘unreliable’

    The Thai government is dismissing the Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2018 as “inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable”. The report put Thailand at the top of the list of countries with the highest wealth gap between the rich and the poor putting the Kingdom in the company of Russia, India and Turkey leading the way in world financial inequality. In part, the report…