Thailand News

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  • Surrogate dad Shigeta to see police ‘soon’

    Surrogate dad Shigeta to see police ‘soon’

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogate dad Shigeta to see police ‘soon’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The lawyer of Mitsutoki Shigeta, a 24-year-old Japanese man who fathered over a dozen children via surrogate mothers in Thailand, has affirmed Shigeta would give information to police in person soon, an assistant…

  • Wanted bomber plans new attack, Hat Yai security sources say

    Wanted bomber plans new attack, Hat Yai security sources say

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Wanted bomber plans new attack, Hat Yai security sources say The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Insurgent suspect Faisal Hayeesama-ae, wanted for the 2004 bomb attack at Songkhla’s Hat Yai Airport, may be in the Hat Yai area to make a bomb or provide training to…

  • Two top cops among land encroachment suspects | Thaiger

    Two top cops among land encroachment suspects

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two top cops among land encroachment suspects The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: TWO high-level police officers are among suspects involved in alleged land encroachment in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district, a senior Army officer said yesterday. Army Region 2 chief of staff Colonel Sommai Budsaba…

  • Attorney-general’s decision on Yingluck corruption charges due today

    Attorney-general’s decision on Yingluck corruption charges due today

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Attorney-general’s decision on Yingluck corruption charges due today The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Attorney-General’s Office will decide today whether to prosecute ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra on charges of dereliction of duty for neglecting to act on corruption in the rice-pledging scheme and inflicting damage of…

  • HRW report exposes ‘wretched conditions’ for migrant children

    HRW report exposes ‘wretched conditions’ for migrant children

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community HRW report exposes ‘wretched conditions’ for migrant children The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thai immigration Police provide inadequate space, inadequate access to nutrition, inadequate education, exercise and bail rights to migrant children in detention, the latest report on the issue by Human Rights Watch (HRW)…

  • Five more clinics found to be involved in illegal surrogacy | Thaiger

    Five more clinics found to be involved in illegal surrogacy

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Five more clinics found to be involved in illegal surrogacy The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Of the five new clinics found offering illegal surrogacy services, four appear to have acted as middlemen in seeking clients, while the fifth one was found to be in clear…

  • Woman from Guinea cleared in Ebola tests

    Woman from Guinea cleared in Ebola tests

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Woman from Guinea cleared in Ebola tests The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Laboratory tests have cleared any concern that a woman travelling from Ebola-hit Guinea may have developed the deadly infection. The 24-year-old woman had been under quarantine for a day pending test results. Dr…

  • Northern floods recede, but more on the way

    Northern floods recede, but more on the way

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Northern floods recede, but more on the way The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Of 15 flood-hit provinces, only Phichit, Nakhon Sawan and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces remain inundated, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said yesterday. The department’s chief Chatchai Phromlert said that since August 26,…

  • PM Prayuth targets jet-ski outlaws

    PM Prayuth targets jet-ski outlaws

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM Prayuth targets jet-ski outlaws The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: While Thailand is attracting tourists because of its beautiful beaches and wide variety of water sports, the country’s jet-ski rental businesses have become notorious after it emerged some operators were extorting money from tourists. Prime…

  • Alleged Bangkok protest gunman dies in custody | Thaiger

    Alleged Bangkok protest gunman dies in custody

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Alleged Bangkok protest gunman dies in custody The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A man accused of the murder of a protest leader during a rally against the Yingluck Shinawatra government early this year succumbed to illness while being held in detention last week, the Corrections…

  • PM Prayuth turns to military, ex-bureaucrats for Cabinet

    PM Prayuth turns to military, ex-bureaucrats for Cabinet

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM Prayuth turns to military, ex-bureaucrats for Cabinet The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha’s Cabinet – with nearly half the ministers either active or retired military – won royal endorsement yesterday. The interim government led by Prime Minister Prayuth has 33 ministers, including…

  • British activist braces for controversial defamation trial | Thaiger

    British activist braces for controversial defamation trial

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British activist braces for controversial defamation trial The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A British activist will go on trial tomorrow in Bangkok for defamation, facing a possible jail term after his investigation into alleged labour abuses in the food industry. Andy Hall faces civil and…

  • Severe flooding in North after heavy downpours

    Severe flooding in North after heavy downpours

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Severe flooding in North after heavy downpours The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Many areas in several provinces have flooded after days of heavy rain, especially in Chiang Mai’s Muang district where high flood waters inundated residential areas overnight. The Kard Kom community in Muang district has…

  • Criminal Court declines to hear murder case against Abhisit and Suthep

    Criminal Court declines to hear murder case against Abhisit and Suthep

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Criminal Court declines to hear murder case against Abhisit and Suthep The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday rejected the murder lawsuit against former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former deputy Suthep Thaugsuban on the grounds that it did not have jurisdiction…

  • Neon sign power leak blamed for ATM electric shock death of baby girl

    Neon sign power leak blamed for ATM electric shock death of baby girl

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Neon sign power leak blamed for ATM electric shock death of baby girl The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Electric shocks that killed a two-year-old girl in Trang’s Yan Ta Khao district on August 7 stemmed from a power leakage from a neon sign placed over…

  • Video clip about cruelly-treated elephants prompts probe

    Video clip about cruelly-treated elephants prompts probe

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Video clip about cruelly-treated elephants prompts probe The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police and soldiers are investigating after a video about cruel treatment of elephants in Songkhla’s Haad Yai district yesterday went viral on the Internet. Hat Yai police station superintendent Pol Col Passagorn Klunwarn…

  • French boy, 5, dies after being stung by jellyfish off Pha-ngan | Thaiger

    French boy, 5, dies after being stung by jellyfish off Pha-ngan

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community French boy, 5, dies after being stung by jellyfish off Pha-ngan The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Koh Pha-ngan authorities have warned people to beware of box jellyfish after a |five-year-old French boy died on Saturday after being stung while swimming at a beach of this resort…

  • Thai ‘baby factory’ doctor to turn himself in | Thaiger

    Thai ‘baby factory’ doctor to turn himself in

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai ‘baby factory’ doctor to turn himself in – police Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Thai doctor who performed in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for women involved in a surrogate baby business dubbed the “baby factory” has agreed to turn himself in, police said on Monday.…

  • Swedish, Filipino ATM skimmers nabbed in Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    Swedish, Filipino ATM skimmers nabbed in Chiang Mai

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Swedish, Filipino ATM skimmers nabbed in Chiang Mai The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police have arrested two ATM skimmer suspects – a Swedish man and a Filipino – in Chiang Mai along with 500 fake electronic cards. Following a tip-off by a bank about someone…

  • Surrogate mums admit lying in court over Shigeta’s babies | Thaiger

    Surrogate mums admit lying in court over Shigeta’s babies

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogate mums admit lying in court over Shigeta’s babies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two Thai surrogate mothers told police yesterday they were instructed to lie to the courts during adoption hearings – to say that their babies were conceived during affairs with the Japanese…

  • Education gets lion’s share of the budget | Thaiger

    Education gets lion’s share of the budget

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Education gets lion’s share of the budget The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Entrusted with the mission of schooling some 12 million children and improving educational quality, the Education Ministry is set to get 20 per cent, or Bt502.245 billion of the planned expenditure in the…

  • Low rain spurs fear of drought in North

    Low rain spurs fear of drought in North

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Low rain spurs fear of drought The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Despite being in the middle of the wet season, there are already fears of drought in the North, as the volume of rain has been unseasonably low, leaving two key dams in the region…

  • Abandoned girl, 12, receives royal helping hand | Thaiger

    Abandoned girl, 12, receives royal helping hand

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community HM The King extends help to abandoned girl, 12 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: His Majesty the King has graciously extended his help to a 12-year-old girl who had been fending for herself virtually all alone for years. The girl had lived alone in her…

  • Student loan ceiling to be reduced

    Student loan ceiling to be reduced

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Student loan ceiling to be reduced The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The student loan ceiling for educational institutes is likely to be reduced soon as more than half of the loans granted so far have not been repaid, the Education Ministry said. It has also…

  • Gen Prayuth voted to become next premier

    Gen Prayuth voted to become next premier

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NLA votes Gen Prayuth to become 29th premier The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Legislative Assembly yesterday voted unanimously for junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha to be the 29th prime minister of Thailand. He was the sole candidate for the job. Prayuth was widely…

  • Obec to cut school hours | Thaiger

    Obec to cut school hours

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obec to cut school hours The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) will start implementing a policy to reduce classroom hours from this second semester, Obec secretary-general Kamol Rodklai said yesterday. The agency would at first reduce study hours in…

  • Japanese surrogacy dad Shigeta faces police summons

    Japanese surrogacy dad Shigeta faces police summons

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japanese dad Shigeta faces police summons The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police will summons Mitsutoki Shigeta for questioning after a DNA test initially confirmed the 24-year-old Japanese man’s claim that he had fathered the nine surrogate babies recently discovered in a Bangkok condominium. Meanwhile, Boonreung…

  • NCPO appoints new national police chief

    NCPO appoints new national police chief

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somyot gets national police chief job in unanimous vote The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung was yesterday chosen in a unanimous 6:0 vote by a junta-installed selection committee as the new Royal Thai Police chief. He will replace Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit,…

  • AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years

    AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Colonel Seehanat Prayoonrat, secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), said at an event marking AMLO’s 15th anniversary yesterday that the agency had so far confiscated up to Bt9.7 billion…

  • THAI steps up fight against Ebola

    THAI steps up fight against Ebola

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THAI steps up fight against Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Private and public organisations are putting more precautionary actions in place here against the Ebola outbreak in Africa to ensure safety. Thai Airways International (THAI) yesterday demonstrated aircraft cleaning and vaccination at Suvarnabhumi Airport…