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5 best wine bars in Bangkok offering rich and quality wine
It’s wine o’clock! Whether you’re all about fruity reds, sweet whites, or funky naturals, Bangkok has many great spots to sip your favourite varieties. But with an array of options to choose from, and the constant rise and fall of...
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Marijuana valued at over 6 million baht seized in Mukdahan
Yesterday police in the northeastern province of Mukdaham announced the seizure of 616 kilograms of marijuana, valued at more than 6 million baht. Authorities say 5 suspects are in custody, identified as 46 year old Boonchu Sittithong, 20 year old Wilawan Lapphu, 22 year old Kittiphong Uttaprom, 34 year old Keng Sae Song and Somboon Chindalert, aged 43. Police got…
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New app latest weapon in Thailand’s fight against Covid-19
In line with developments around the world, Thailand’s Covid-19 task force has developed a contact-tracing app as the fight to eradicate the virus continues. Coconuts reports that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society says the app, known as Thai Chana (Thailand Wins) will be used to track people’s movements in order to easily contact anyone who may have visited…
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Tourism sector prepares to resume business
Businesses that have been battered by the Covid-19 outbreak, especially those in the Eastern Economic Corridor (straddling Chonburi, Rayong, and Chachoengsao provinces) that rely mainly on tourism, are in desperate need of support. But the vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says it’s still too early to predict when tourism will recover, as it largely relies on arrivals…
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Workers claim Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi resort owes 10 million baht in unpaid wages
A group of 70 workers, representing over 200 employees at a luxury resort in northern Thailand, have filed an official complaint with Chiang Mai’s Department of Labour and Welfare, claiming they have not been paid for 4 months. Thai Residents reports that the workers are all from the 5 star Dhara Dhevi resort in Chiang Mai, which closed its doors…
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Vongfong, aka. Ambo, barrels into Philippines’ east coast
Typhoon Vongfong (aka. ‘Ambo’ in the Philippines) has made landfall, forcing tens of thousands of people to quickly evacuate whilst in the middle of lockdown amid their local Covid-19 outbreak. The typhoon struck the Phillipines east coast islands around Samar at around noon yesterday. Around 200,000 people living in the coastal areas near Samar have been affected. Vongfong packed winds of…
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University in Korat plants more than 3,000 cannabis plants
The Suranaree University of Technology in Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima) announced today that they have begun planting marijuana trees as part of their research on marijuana based medicines. A senior official at the university, Weerapong Pairsuwan, says that “up to 3,360 cannabis will be planted, with a harvest more than 1,500 kilograms later this year.” “The plants will be used in researches…
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Thailand News Today – Thursday, May 14
Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. Business owners have had a wake-up call from employees discovering the advantages of working from home. A spokesperson from Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy…
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Architecture students propose redesign and makeover of Bangkok prison
Most of Thailand’s prisons are well past their designed capacity. Living conditions for inmates are cramped and unsanitary. Now some architecture students are trying to come up with creative solutions to improve the living environment at one Bangkok prison. They’ve been working on design proposals that would make the conditions more “humane” at the Thonburi Remand Prison. “Treeward” is one design…
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Leading virologist warns against enabling second wave of Covid-19
A second wave of Covid-19 infections could easily strike Thailand unless people stick to the “new normal” of social distancing, according to Chulalongkorn University’s Head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology. Posting on Facebook today, Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote that everyone is looking forward to the second phase of easing Emergency Decree restrictions now that the rate of…
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4 alleged gang members arrested, more than a million speed pills seized
Police today announced the arrest of 3 members of a drug gang at 2 houses in Bangkok, and a fourth in the southern Narathiwat province on the Malaysian border. More than a million methamphetamine pills were seized. Police say the houses were used to store drugs smuggled from Laos. A combined team of soldiers, police and officials from the Office…
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Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic
Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. The increasing vacancy trend of Grade-A office space is expected to continue, possibly until a coronavirus vaccine is in effect, according to managing director of Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy, Surachet Kongcheep. Business owners have…
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Suicide deaths during pandemic could exceed virus-related deaths
Stress with money and other worries, brought on by the pandemic, have led a significant number of people in Thailand to take their own lives. Those who have studied the subject in Thailand say the number of suicide deaths this year could exceed the number of coronavirus deaths. Scholars in Chiang Mai University studied suicide cases that took place between…
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PM orders ministries to study staggered work hours to reduce traffic congestion
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered authorities to study the possibility of permanently staggered working hours as the Covid-19 pandemic eases because such a policy might help ease long term traffic congestion. Staggered working hours, as well as working from home and learning from home, could be enforced in future to solve traffic problems, according to the PM. He tasked the Education…
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Covid-19 update: 1 new case, no new deaths (May 14)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced 1 new case of Covid-19 this morning at its daily press briefing in Bangkok. Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the CCSA, announced the new case is in Chiang Mai, which had previously been clear of new case reports for over a month. The 39 year old man had recently returned from Phuket and is…
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72 year old taxi driver disappears with millions
A elderly taxi driver has vanished without a trace after he became an overnight millionaire when he told the media a sad tale of poverty, indebtedness and lack of family support, according to one of his creditors, who is also the owner of the taxi company. Preecha Chumsombat, the owner of the Mangkorn Chao Phraya taxi rental service in Samut…
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Koh Tao residents caught without face masks made to do push-ups and jumping jacks – VIDEO
Officials on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand have come up with a novel way to punish people for not wearing face masks, still a legal requirement under the Covid-19 emergency decree when people are out in public. The Pattaya News reports that both tourists and Thais caught without protective face coverings are being made to…
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Thai billionaire urges government to allow tourists to return
The senior chairman of Thailand’s largest food and agriculture business, Charoen Pokphand Group (CP All), is appealing to the Thai government to open up the country to overseas visitors once more. The Bangkok Post reports that billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont says Thailand needs to start easing travel restrictions in a bid to restart the tourism industry. “Thailand’s economic losses from the lockdown…
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One death and many sick after eating dumplings
Around 2 dozen people got sick and 1 person died sometime after they ate dumplings sold by a street vendor in Samut Prakan, a province south of Bangkok. Bacteria was found in the dumplings, or kanom jeeb, after a lab test, but health officials say they’re still not sure if the bacteria caused the food poisoning. They’re still investigating before they…
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Australian government takes on Google and Facebook over re-publishing ‘news’
A leading Australian consumer watchdog is calling for Google and other tech giants to pay Australian news outlets A$600 million (12.4 billion baht) a year under a new code of conduct ordered by the government. News Limited and Nine Entertainment have also voiced their support for the news ‘tax’. The Australia government announced plans to force Google, Facebook, and other…
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South Korea asks Thailand to remove it from list of “high risk” countries
South Korea is asking to be removed from Thailand’s list of “high-risk” countries. The list was drawn up in early March, when South Korea was second only to China for Covid-19 case numbers. It now ranks 40th, and is considered one of the countries most successful at managing the outbreak. To date, none of the 7,000 Thai citizens, who have…
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Fewer Chinese tour groups, more independent travellers to reboot SE Asia travel
Hoping that Chinese tourism is going to ride magically back into Thailand on the back of a gleaming red dragon and save the tattered tourism sector may be precipitous. Of course there are so, so many unknowns even the regular travel writers and consultants are scrambling to forecast a way forward. For Thailand, the ban on international flights hasn’t even…
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Typhoon Vongfong closes in on the Philippines, hits coast later today
The Philippines is bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Vongfong. During Tuesday and Wednesday, Vongfong strengthened from a modest tropical storm with winds of 95 kph to the equivalent of a major typhoon. Maximum sustained winds are now up to 195 kph and the typhoon continues to strengthen as it approaches the Philippines’ coast. The only difference between a ‘hurricane’ and…
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Thailand News Today – Wednesday, May 13
Zero new cases. Covid-19 update, first time since March Very happy to announce another milestone in Thailand’s own battle with the Covid-19 virus. No new cases announced for today, the first time that’s happened since March 9. This keeps the country on track for the second phase of reopening and easing of Emergency Decree restrictions scheduled for this Sunday, but…
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Phuket government officially requests the opening of land, water and air links
The southern resort island province of Phuket will ask permission from Bangkok to reopen its airport, sea ports and permanent road access to the mainland (Sarasin Bridge) after several days with no new Covid-19 infections detected. The provincial governor says the province will ask the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand for approval to reopen the airport this Saturday. The CAAT ordered…
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Strange pineapple tree worshipped by plantation owner in Songkhla
The owners of a rubber plantation in the southern province of Songkhla today reported they had found a strange pineapple tree on their farm. “It looks like 15 pineapple trees merged together as one.” Reports from Thai media reveal that after the discovery of the fascinating tree, Phanchakonrat and her husband had brought flowers, incense and candles to worship it,…
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Young student busted for big crimes
The Narcotics Control Board have announced the arrest of an 18 year old student at a private college in Nonthaburi province, just north of Bangkok, for possession of 10,000 ecstasy pills. “The student ordered 35,000 ecstasy pills by airmail from The Netherlands, paying in Bitcoin via the internet. He was arrested when the first shipment of 10,000 pills arrived. The…
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CCSA will announce list of businesses, activities that can recommence
Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, has announced that the CCSA will likely decide on Friday on a full list of business and leisure activities which will be allowed to resume as part of the second phase of leasing Emergency Decree restrictions. The national state of emergency was declared in March to halt the spread…
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Thieving monkey safely caught in Chon Buri
A mischievous macaque, aka. rhesus monkey, has been caught after stealing food from local residents in Chon Buri province’s Banglamung district. Authorities of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were notified of the monkey yesterday afternoon at a housing estate. They arrived at the scene to find the male monkey, estimated at around 2 years old, eating…
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Naked man steals motorbike in Nakhon Si Thammarat – VIDEO
On Sunday a completely naked man seized a motorcycle from a shocked woman in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and rode away on it. Police found him yesterday at a nearby market, still without clothes. The incident occurred in broad daylight and in full view of witnesses. It was recorded and posted on Facebook and, predictably, went viral. The…
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‘Vongfong’ heads northwest along Philippines coast
The first potential typhoon for this year’s typhoon and storm season in the western Pacific now has a name. It’s been called ‘Vongfong’ and is is quickly becoming a threat to the Philippines. While the peak of the western Pacific typhoon season is late summer, there are frequent storms in the winter or early spring due to the warm waters of…
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