Thailand News
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More robberies from tourists in Ao Nang, Krabi
A robber, identified as a French tourist, 32 year old Martinez Joyce, was arrested in Ao Nang, Krabi, after stealing a purse containing 42,000 Baht cash inside. Police received a report from 30 year old Assaman Yeesam on April 18 that he forgot his Balenciaga bag with 42,000 Baht cash in a coffee shop in Ao Nang where he was…
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Jack Ma opens the door to Thailand’s markets
To the people sitting in the audience it looked like Jack Ma had pulled off a piece of modern day wizardry, selling 80,000 Thai durians in 60 seconds. Gone in 60 seconds indeed! His much publicised visit to Thailand and meetings with the Thai PM and other ministers, signing of MOUs and various media appearances have drawn awe as well…
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Pattaya swingers party interrupted by authorities
Authorities raided a swingers party in Pattaya over the weekend. The party was held in a hotel in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district. When officials raided the hotel late on Saturday night, they found many foreigners openly engaging in ‘swinging’ and group sex. There were 14 couples who came from many countries including the United States, Canada, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany,…
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Two killed and five seriously injured in Songkhla road crash
Two have been killed and another five seriously injured after a pickup truck crashed into a motorcycle with a sidecar and turned over in Songkhla province yesterday (April 22). Quoting eyewitness accounts, Singha Nakhon district police said that the sidecar was carrying five people from the same family, including the driver, when it tried to make a U-turn to the…
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Nigerian arrested as police track down ‘romance scam’ gang
PHOTOS: The Nation Tourist police are hunting for conspirators in a “romance scam” gang after they arrested a 32 year old Nigerian who allegedly lured a Thai woman in Lampang province into wiring him nearly 100,000 baht. Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakparn from the Tourist Police Bureau says that the suspect, Emery Henry Ogba, was a member of a gang believed…
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Big increases in BKK airport arrivals for 2018 Songkran
Nearly 7 percent additional passengers flew into Suvarnabhumi Airport and 12 percent into Don Mueang this year to celebrate the Songkran festival, compared to last year’s passenger traffic. The Immigration Bureau deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Choengron Rimpadee says that 683,260 passengers arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from April 12 and 16. “The number marks a 6.96 per cent increase from Songkran 2017.…
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National weather alert
The Thai Meteorological Department is warning people in all regions, including Bangkok, against summer thunderstorms during the period April 24-27. The TMD has issued warnings saying that in the period April 24-27, a high pressure system from China will extend to cover upper Thailand and meet with hot weather conditions over Thailand, causing summer thunderstorms. Outbreaks of thunderstorm, thunderbolts and…
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Foreigners detained in Pattaya sex orgy raid
PHOTO: Siamchon News More raids in Pattaya after police and authorities raided a ‘sex party’ being held at a hotel allegedly managed by a 53 year old Chinese man. Local police, immigration officers and Tourist Police carried out the raid after reports that the 30 room hotel located in the Nong Prue area was being used to host sex and…
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Reform committee might go for complete rewrite of National Police Bill
Thailand’s police are under the spotlight. Along with many other aspects of long-existing work cultures, the Thai police culture is now coming under scrutiny from both ends – the NCPO who want real change and opposition forces who see the Thai police as facilitators of much of the country’s corruption problems. The country’s law reform committee has been tackling the…
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121 arrested over BKK bike mods
Police have arrested 121 motorcyclists picked up on the streets of the capital last night (Friday). They’ve been charged with illegally modifying their motorcycles for road racing. Deputy Tourist Police commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal said the suspects were arrested at checkpoints on major roads under the jurisdiction of 11 police stations of Metropolitan Police Division 8. According to police,…
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5 people dead following storms in 36 provinces
5 people are dead and 3,758 homes in 36 provinces have been damaged by storms over the past week. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chayapol Thitisak reported on the damage yesterday. He reported that relief aid, including home repair assistance and distribution of relief bags has been provided by Army, local administrative officials and related agencies. 655 villages…
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How many Thai durians can Alibaba sell in one minute?
Thai durian sold like hot cakes after Jack Ma showed the magic of e-commerce during his visit to Thailand by selling 80,000 golden pillow durians on his online platform T-mall within one minute. One minute! While Ma was in Thailand to make a mega-deal on investment on Thursday, Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong gifted the founder of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba…
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Four bull sharks sighted off beach south of Hua Hin
Four bull sharks have been sighted in the sea near Khao Tao, near Wat Tham Khao Tao, about ten kilometres south of Hua Hin, by authorities conducting searches with patrol boats and drones. Thipamas Upnoi, the director of the Marine and Coastal Resources and Development Centre at the Central Gulf of Thailand says the operation started yesterday and has so…
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The ‘dirty’ coffee from Vietnam contains manganese dioxide
PHOTO: Dak Nong Police Further to yesterday’s revelation about fake coffee being manufactured and sold from a make-shift factory in Vietnam, this analysis from a Chemist at the Vietnam National University. Associate Professor Tran Hong Con, a chemistry expert from the Vietnam National University, says the black substance found in D batteries is a toxic chemical called manganese dioxide. Manganese dioxide…
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5 young revellers killed, 4 injured as pickup flips in Sa Kaeo during local Songkran celebrations
Five teenagers have been killed and four others injured after a speeding pickup truck returning from Sa Kaeo’s Songkran celebration flipped and slid into a roadside ditch last night. Sa Kaeo’s Songkran celebration was held yesterday (Thursday), later than other provinces. Pol Colonel Setthanat Timwat, commander of Wang Nam Yen police station, said the accident happened at 9.50pm on Khao…
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Officials seize 12 tonnes of fake ‘coffee’ laced with hazardous materials
Here’s something to contemplate next time you’re about to enjoy your next caffeine-fix. Vietnam’s Tuoi Tre News daily newspaper is reporting that a family-run coffee producer in Vietnam’s Dak Nong province has been caught manufacturing coffee laced with harmful ingredients from used batteries, dirt and rock dust and black dye. Vietnamese authorities say they seized about 12 tonnes of dangerous…
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Close the beach, put up signs. Hua Hin tackles a one-in-2-million chance.
Shark prevention measures will be introduced in the resort town of Hua Hin after a Norwegian tourist was bitten by a bull shark, even though a marine biologist says there was only a one-in-2-million chance of someone being attacked by a shark. Prachuap Khiri Khan’s deputy governor Chotnarin Kerdsom has confirmed what experts have already validated – a Norwegian tourist…
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66 more foreigners arrested in nationwide crackdown
FILE PHOTO: The Nation Tourist police have arrested 66 more foreigners during crackdowns around the country last night (Wednesday). Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal, deputy tourist police chief spoke whilst in Soi Cowboy off Sukhumvit Road early this morning to announce the results of the operation. He said 11 foreigners were arrested for overstaying their visas and 51 others for unlawfully…
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PM appoints two new ex-politicians as advisors
The PM is starting to surround himself with more politicians and fewer Army people in the lead up next year’s planned election. The PM, who has always described himself as ‘not a politician’, is showing all the signs of strategically aligning himself with the right people to make him a choice as ‘outside PM’ should the new lower house not…
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2018 Songkran road toll total up on last year
This year’s Songkran “Seven Dangerous Days counted an appalling toll of 418 people dying on Thailand’s roads compared to last year’s 390. The figures were recorded by the Road Safety Centre said yesterday. The figures follow an ‘all out’ attempt by the Government and police to reduce the carnage on Thai roads over the Songkran break. This year also saw a…
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Russian robber in Krabi arrested for stealing iPhone X
Police have arrested a 34 year old Russian man, Aleksei Posysaev, today (April 18) after he stole an iPhone X from a clothes shop in Ao Nang, Krabi. Earlier, the clothes shop owner, Netdao Wiwatratsamee, posted the CCTV footage of the robbery on social media and offered a 5,000 Baht reward to whoever leads to the robber and his family…
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M comes to your Facebook Messenger
“M” is Jame’s Bond’s boss. But starting today, M is also an AI smart assistant embedded in Facebook Messenger in Thailand. Artificial intelligence and intuitive technology are becoming increasingly popular in new Apps and updates. Initially launched in April last year in the US, M has been providing people with suggestions, enriching the way people interact on the Messenger App.…
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PM Prayut thanks everyone for “ensuring public safety” over Songkran
From the National News Bureau of Thailand… “The Prime Minister, Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, thanked all sides, including volunteers, for ensuring public safety during this year’s Songkran festival. The Assistant Government Spokeswoman, Col. Thaksada Sangkhachan, said the Prime Minister asked government agencies to continue organising road safety campaigns after the Songkran festival ended on Tuesday (April 17). Col. Thaksada said Gen.…
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“You’ve got a better chance of winning the lottery,” Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat
Screenshot from Dr. Thon’s video Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, Bangkok says you have a bigger chance of winning the lottery or being run down by a charging buffalo than being bitten by a shark in Thailand. Dr. Thon’s message was loud and clear – don’t worry about sharks. Not to mention Thai roads and…
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“Norwegian tourist bitten by a bull shark,” Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre
A fisheries expert claims the tourist that was bitten over the weekend by something off beaches south of Hua Hin, was attacked by a bull shark, a shark which can be found in warm and shallow water in the Gulf of Thailand. Earlier story HERE. Watchara Sakornwimon, a veterinarian of the Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre, says…
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National drug crackdown nets drugs worth 320 million baht
Police seized a large haul of narcotics with a street value of 320 million baht from 101 suspects in 88 drug busts during March 28-April 17. The crime-suppression operations overlapped the Songkran holidays, deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakhan told a press conference in Bangkok yesterday (Tuesday). Besides confiscating 255 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, over 170,000 methamphetamine pills,…
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Shark fever hits Hua Hin as experts investigate
Authorities in Hua Hin are sending a team of experts to check out the waters off Sai Noi beach, south of Hua Hin, after two days of speculation that a tourist was bitten by a shark. The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is dispatching officers in a bid to allay people’s fears. Reports of the shark attack went viral since…
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Prawit denies any health problems
Deputy PM and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan is denying having any health problems. “I am not ill, as you can see now,” said Prawit, who is in charge of the government’s security affairs. During the long Songkran holidays there had been media reports quoting PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha, that his deputy was ill and had received treatment for heart…
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Storms wreak havoc in Chiang Rai and Phitsanulok
Thunderstorms and hail pounded 16 districts of Chiang Rai last night (Monday), damaging around 1000 houses. The director of the province’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office says reports were received of blackouts in 30 villages in five districts as utility poles were knocked over and tree branches snapped power lines. All of Mae Fah Luang district was without electricity when…
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Japanese passenger claims 3 million yen, camera stolen during Thai flight
FILE PHOTO: Thai Airways flight at Haneda Airport, Japan Police are investigating a claim from Japanese woman that 3 million yen (874,000 baht) and a camera were stolen from her bag aboard a Thai Airways flight from Tokyo. The woman, whose name has been withheld, filed a complaint with the Suvarnabhumi Airport police shortly after her flight landed at 5pm…
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