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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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“Too good for its own good” – The Thai economy
Bloomberg has written an opinion piece about the robust Thai economy, sharing its fears along with some pats on the back. “Thailand really should let its hair down. The currency is strong and the current-account surplus is big versus the neighborhood, while there’s a lot of scope for fiscal expansion. The Bank of Thailand has been grudging in cutting interest rates, in contrast to the…
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BTS first foreign artists to perform solo concert in Saudi Arabia tonight
PHOTO: BTS performing in front of 60,000 fans during their “Love Yourself” tour in Hong Kong – SCMP No band has ever commanded a concert stage, alone, in Saudi Arabia. Remarkable but true. But South Korea’s BTS is breaking down yet another barrier with tonight’s stadium concert in the Kingdom. Aside from being their first ever concert in Saudi Arabia,…
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Driver’s coughing fit cuts parts of Pathum Thani’s internet and power
PHOTO: Daily News An 18 wheel truck driver has driven into a communications pole in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, leaving locals without electricity and the internet. The driver told the media that he drove his vehicle into the pole after losing control of the truck during a coughing fit. 44 year old Preecha was only slightly injured in the incident…
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BBC Thai follows up Australian media claims about Thammanat’s imprisonment in Sydney
The BBC’s Thai affiliate has published notes of an official document obtained from a visit to an Australian court, stating that Manat Bophlom one of the former names used by the Thai Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thammanat Prompao, had served four years in jail for on charge of conspiring to import heroin to Australia. Early in September, Australia…
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Tourists rush to climb Australia’s Uluru before ban kicks in on October 26
by Holly Robertson Large numbers of tourists are rushing to scale ‘Uluru’, aka. Ayers Rock, ahead of a looming ban on climbing the enormous natural monolith in the centre of Australia, sacred to indigenous Australians. Critics have been lashing the last-minute climbers as “ignorant”, saying they’re going against the wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Anangu.…
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Thief gets away with 50 phones and gold in Bangkok
PHTOTS: INN News A thief has snatched over 50 smartphones and 76 grams of gold at a phone shop in Bangkok. The incident happened yesterday. INN News reports that the store is off, Bang Kradi Road, south-west of the city centre. The store is part of a small retail complex but there was no one near the store when the…
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Volunteer engineers to carry out Ubon Ratchathani assessments following flooding
A team of volunteer engineers from The Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) are in Ubon Ratchathani to carry out building assessments following the record flooding that devastated the region. The Nation reports that the engineers will examine buildings damaged by the flood waters and provide residents with advice so that they can try to rebuild their lives. Thanet Weerasiri, Chairman…
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Thailand launches renewed crackdown on electronic cigarettes
PHOTO: AFP Electronic cigarettes have been banned in Thailand since 2014 but enforcement of the ban has been sporadic. However, a report in the Chiang Rai Times says Thai authorities are now cracking down hard, with thousands of e-cigarettes confiscated in the last 3 weeks. At a press briefing this week, the police, working with a consumer protection agency, confirmed…
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Phuket drug dealer arrested in Chalong with half a kilo of ice
PHOTOS: Phuket Hot News A 35 year old Phuket man, Suwat Kaewtaworn, is currently in custody after being arrested yesterday with 521 grams (half a kilogram) of crystal methamphetamine. Suwat was arrested in front of a pharmacy on Chao Fah West Road in Chalong. Police found three bags of crystal methamphetamine (ice), two of them weighing 10 grams each and…
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World Economic Forum says lack of critical thinking in Thailand affecting competitiveness
PHOTO: AFP Thailand’s competitiveness ranking has dropped two places in the Global Competitiveness Index just released by the World Economic Forum (WEC) in Switzerland. The country has dropped from 38 to 40 out of a total of 141 global economies ranked. The WEC claims that a lack of critical thinking in teaching in Thailand, along with its failure to dominate…
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Thai woman nabbed outside Pattaya school on human trafficking charges
PHOTOS: Naew Na Naew Na reports that a 31 year old Thai woman has been arrested outside a Pattaya school over human trafficking charges. The arrest was a joint operation by Chonburi immigration and the Pattaya Tourist police. The arrest warrant was issued back in December 2016 on 31 year old Rawipha Takunphon. The warrant relates to enticing children over 15 (but not…
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Study shows Phuket has highest number of tourists per square mile
PHOTO: Bao Menglong (Unsplash.com) A study published by Travel Daily News reveals that Phuket has the highest number of tourists per square mile, with 5,090. The research was carried out by Columbus Direct, who examined visitor numbers in the world’s most popular places. With over 9 million visitors a year, Thailand’s largest island has ten times more tourists per square…
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Mandatory health insurance for ‘Long Stay’ visa starts October 31
Foreigners applying for a Non O-A visa will be required to purchase health insurance from October 31, according to Thaivisa. Non–Immigrant Visa “O-A” (Long Stay) This type of visa may be issued to applicants aged 50 years and over who wish to stay in Thailand for a period of not exceeding 1 year without the intention of working. Holder of…
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Asian markets stumble over trade concerns, Brexit sentiment sinks pound
Asian markets fell after hefty losses in New York yesterday, owing to growing China-US tensions in the next round of trade talks, while the British pound continues to be beaten down by fears the UK is on the verge of crashing out of the EU. The downbeat mood comes as investors fret over signs the global economy is slowing down.…
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Pattaya getting set for the Indian era – OPINION
by Dan Cheeseman I was a bit taken back by posters across the social networks where I shared the post that simply would not accept the Indians were bringing any value to Pattaya. Claiming Thailand would regret squeezing out the Western market and turning to the Chinese and Indians. It came across as sour grapes to me and also a…
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Burmese man arrested for dealing in methamphetamine pills
PHOTO: Naew Na Naew Na reports that a joint operation between Lamphun immigration and the Muangjee police has resulted in the arrest of a 27 year old Burmese man. Lamphun is just south of Chiang Mai and has a large population of Burmese migrant workers. ‘Thun’ was arrested yesterday along with drug taking equipment and 206 methamphetamine tablets. He was charged with…
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Chinese media is slamming NBA over Hong Kong comments
Sport, world politics and the mess in Hong Kong. Put the three together and you have an explosive mix. The NBA’s entire future as it expands in China is now under a serious cloud. Chinese state media is slamming the NBA for their “about-face” after the basketball association said it would not apologise for a tweet by the Houston Rockets…
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Chiang Mai Zoo announces results of the inquiry into celebrity panda’s death
PHOTO: SCMP – Original story written by Kay Johnson Chiang Mai Zoo have announced the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death of celebrity panda Chuang Chuang. They announced the cause was heart failure. Special ‘panda vets’ from China flew into Chiang Mai last month to assist with the investigation into the death of the much-loved Panda who…
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Woman dies after being shot in the back of a car as passenger was ‘playing’ with gun
PHOTOS: Daily News The vice president of the Thai-Chinese trade and industry association, Wichai Manekitikun, is assisting police with their enquiries after his 23 year old girlfriend was shot in the chest. She later died in hospital. The 44 year old man was taking a Chinese couple home after a party in his van. He told police that he had…
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Thailand’s Court of Justice says chief judges can screen verdicts of junior judges
PHOTO: AFP The spokesman of the Court of Justice, Mr. Suriyan Hongvilai, says regional chief judges can legally screen the decisions of the lower courts and provide advisory feedback if they disagree with verdicts. However, he adds that judges in the lower courts are independent and do have the final say. Thai PBS World reports that Mr Suriyan says such…
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Pro-democracy activist released on bail pending charges over ‘innocent’ post
PHOTOS: Khaosod English and The Nation The Criminal Court yesterday released political activist Karn Ponpraphan on bail of 100,000 baht, whilst setting conditions that he refrain from posting political messages on social media. 25 year old Karn was arrested earlier yesterday by Technology Crime Suppression Division officials, who showed up at his home on Phaholyothin Road in Bangkok for posting…
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Thai Army chief will address sedition charges and solving problems in South
The Thai Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong will deliver a speech at a seminar tomorrow (Thursday) to explain the armed forces’ role in providing security under current circumstances. This seminar is part of the Army’s PR effort to provide an official statement after it charged 12 people, including Opposition leaders and academics, of sedition. The sedition charges followed Opposition and academics…
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Police officer and local leader’s son arrested for drugs offences in southern Thailand
PHOTO: Bangkok Post A police officer and a local leader’s son have been arrested in a drugs raid on a house in Songkla, southern Thailand. The men were found in possession of 89 methamphetamine pills and 3.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine. A number of other items were also seized at the property, including drug paraphernalia and a pistol. The arrested…
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Hong Kong won’t rule out accepting help from China over protests
PHOTO: AFP Following more violent protests in Hong Kong, Chief Executive Carrie Lam says China stepping in to end the crisis is not out of the question. Angry demonstrations have rocked the city for four months now, having started out as protests against a proposed extradition bill that could have seen criminals sent to China for trial. The Hong Kong…
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Cafes and restaurants ordered to store customer wi-fi data for 90 days
The Thai Minister of Digital Economy Puttipong Punnakan says cafe and restaurant operators offering free wifi services, will have to collect internet traffic data used by their customers up to 90 days, or face punishment. The report didn’t specify if they wanted to simply track usage data or track the actual traffic and sites visited. According to Khaosod English, the Minister…
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Mystery South Korean woman falls from Pattaya condo
A South Korean woman has fallen to her death from a Pattaya condo. The incident happened yesterday morning. She was aged between 25 and 30, according to the police report. Pattaya Police Station was notified around 2 am about the incident at the Chonburi condo and officers rushed to investigate the scene. They found that the woman’s skull was cracked,…
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Last night of Phuket vegetarian festival was a blast – VIDEO
Last night (October 7), Phuket local shrines gathered for the final day parades of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which took place from September 29 to October 7. Almost all of the Chinese shrines in Phuket had their Mah Song walking around the city with members of the shrine holding palanquins adorned with Chinese gods for blessing people lining the streets…
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5 more dead elephants located by drone at Khao Yai park waterfall
PHOTO: One of the elephants spotted on Saturday before disappearing in the forest – AFP Sending up the video-enabled drones at the Khao Yai National Park, north east of Bangkok, has spotted five more dead elephants. Park officials are still working out how to retrieve the bodies of six others dead elephants in the same area after a herd stumbled…
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Thai Central Bank ‘sandboxing’ biometrics to open a saving account
The Bank of Thailand’s assistant governor for payment systems policy and financial technology group, Siritida Panomwan, says that 10 commercial banks and non-bank financial institutes were participating in the BoT’s ‘sandbox’ project to test-run biometric technology known as e-kyc (“electronic know your customer”, not a special lubricant gel) to electronically verify the identity of customers. “So far none of the…
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Special committee to investigate Yala judge suicide attempt
Photo montage: Bangla Tribune The Nation reports that a special panel will investigate the case of a judge in southern Thailand shooting himself in court, after he was allegedly made to change the verdict he handed down. The committee is expected to report back in 15 days, confirms deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Judiciary, Sarawut Benjakul. It’s understood…
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