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Blazing opportunity: Four Twenty Thailand offers franchise programme
Did you know that Four Twenty, Thailand’s premier cannabis brand, has a franchise programme? That’s right, you can now join their efforts to bring high-quality cannabis products and a vibrant community experience to more locations across Thailand. Four Twenty has...
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Thai street dog goes viral with “fake” injury
A clever street dog in Bangkok has gone viral on social media, with users joking that he is faking an injury for sympathy and food from passersby. Known as Gae, the dog drags his back leg behind him as if unable to walk, but once someone stops to give him attention, he’s quickly back on all fours and walking normally.…
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Sick child rushed to Bangkok hospital by a passing Grab Food motorcycle rider
A Grab Food motorcycle came to the rescue and helped a frantic mother rush her sick child to hospital yesterday. Her car’s dash cam video (below) captures the mother’s desperate please as her son, Pla Wan, was foaming at the mouth and losing control of his movements. Daily News reports the the mother’s car was stuck in traffic and unable to…
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Chief Executive of Hong Kong insists she’s going nowhere
PHOTO: Scmp.com/Nora Tam The Asean Post reports that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam says she has no intention of resigning, despite a leaked audio recording where she says she wants to do just that. “For a chief executive to have caused this huge havoc to Hong Kong is unforgivable. If I have a choice, the first thing is to…
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Central Bank of Thailand voices concern over impact of economic slowdown
PHOTO: Thai PBS World The Bank of Thailand has expressed concern about the country’s rising household debt as a result of the sluggish economy. The bank’s assistant governor Titanun Mallikamas was speaking on Monday, in response to the National Economic and Social Development Council raising the matter at a press conference. “We are closely monitoring household debts, as Thai families…
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Thailand’s high-speed railway will carry first passengers in 2023
The first section of the 873 kilometre high-speed railway running between Thailand and China should be operating by 2023. Thailand will now pay for the total cost of the 179 billion baht first section of the high speed rail line, but China is providing the design and will provide the train and carriages. The first 252 kilometre leg, from Bangkok to…
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Missing Chinese swimmer’s body found off Freedom Beach in Phuket
The relatives of a 35 year old Chinese tourist, whose body was found floating off Freedom Beach in Phuket, have now been contacted. Chinese man Yin Lei was swept away by strong currents while swimming with six other friends off Freedom Beach last Sunday night around 7pm, resulting in an urgent search mission on Sunday night into Monday. After the…
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Thailand industrial property a winner as US-China trade war drags on
Amongst all the bad economic news, Thailand’s industrial property sector is profiting from the protracted US-China trade war, as mainland Chinese manufacturers shift production to ASEAN countries in an attempt to avoid escalating tariffs. Chinese foreign direct investment into the south east Asia sector rose last year by 31.7% to USD 233 million, after declining by 15.7% in 2016-17, according…
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AirAsia X orders 42 new long-haul Airbus jets
PHOTO: AirAsia’s new generation A330neo will be based at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport – Bernama AirAsia X, the long-haul part of the AirAsia Group, has now finalised a major order with Airbus for 12 more A330-900 and 30 A321XLR aircraft. The contract was signed today by Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, chairman of AirAsia X, along with Guillaume Faury, CEO…
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Mae Hong Son school inundated by flooding in Thailand’s north
The clean up is continuing today at a school for hilltribe children in Mae Hong Son’s Mae Sariang district in far north Thailand was hit by mountain runoff and floodwaters from last week’s heavy rain. The Ban Pho Sor School in Tambon Saohin was inundated by mountain runoff following heavy rains late Friday and into Saturday. The school provides education for…
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The problems with Phuket’s lifeguarding, in plain sight
PHOTO: Patong Surf Lifesaving Club A personal view from a veteran ocean lifeguard After viewing the news and photos today of yet another body retrieval from Phuket’s ocean waters, this latest is unfortunately one in a long-line of such grisly episodes, for as many years as I can remember. And as Kee Lighting and Engineering Company, apparently the contract provider…
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Indian visitors to Phuket surge whilst total numbers drop
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com The soaring number of Indian visitors to Phuket for the first seven months of 2019 has propelled Indian tourists into the Top 5 arrivals for the first time. Arrivals from India from January – July, compared to the same period in 2018, grew 354%, amassing a total of 186,360 arrivals. Mainland Chinese arrival figures continue…
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Massage parlour busted in Pattaya providing sexual services and underage staff
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail Police have raided the Thong Dang Thai traditional massage parlour on Central Road, Pattaya. They allege that staff were offering sexual services to customers whilst employing underage girls. The sting operation was conducted by officers from the Centre for the Protection of Children, Women and Family and the Anti Human Trafficking, a division of the Royal Thai…
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Large heroin bust announced in Bangkok
PHOTO: Naew Na The deputy national police has announced the arrest of two suspects in two large drug seizures. Heroin weighing 100 kilograms, plus one and a half kilograms of cocaine were seized. Deputy chief Pol Gen Chalermkiat Srivorakhan made the presentation to the media at the Crime Suppression Division headquarters in Bangkok. The media conference went through the long list of…
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Pet leopard not a hit with neighbours in Chonburi, Thailand
A couple in Chonburi, eastern Thailand, have not ingratiated themselves with neighbours after it was revealed they’re keeping a pet leopard in their home. It’s understood that a Thai woman known as Nittiya, and her foreign husband, nationality unconfirmed, have just recently moved to the area from Chiang Mai, and news of their unusual pet has put neighbours very much…
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Soaring baht continues to court investors and speculators
The Thai baht continues to be the best performing currency in Asia. On a year-on-year basis it has soared more than 8% against the USD and this year reached a six-year high. But the strong currency threatens the country’s exports and tourism, two major drivers of Thailand’s economy. Thailand continues to have solid economic fundamentals, a high current account surplus and…
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The Thai charm-offensive on the South Korean President
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is inviting South Korean investors to increase their investment and trade with Thailand. The PM says Cabinet will consider offering incentives for South Korean businesses to invest in the country. South Korean President Moon Jae-in capped off an official two day visit to the Kingdom yesterday. The Thailand-Korea Business Forum was held yesterday in Bangkok with…
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No direct hit from Kajiki, but heavy rain predicted for many parts of Thailand
PHOTO: My-thai.org The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) says tropical storm Kajiki will miss Thailand, but parts of the country are in for some very heavy rain over the next two days. With Kajiki moving west across the South China Sea in the direction of Vietnam, a TMD spokesman says there’s a good chance it may change direction, heading northward towards…
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Chinese passenger detained on suspicion of theft at Suvarnabhumi airport
PHOTO: Bangkok.com Police and security officials at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport arrested a Chinese woman earlier this morning on suspicion of theft. The woman had picked up a money-belt dropped by an Iranian passenger, but failed to hand it in. It’s understood the bag contained US$1,441 in cash and a mobile phone. The Iranian passenger reported his bag missing to airport…
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Police looking for Bangkok taxi driver who stole 3.6 million baht of valuables
FILE PHOTO Bangkok Police are hunting for a taxi driver who allegedly stole valuables valued over than 3.6 million baht from a Chinese businessman early on Sunday. Zhong Ai, a Chinese rubber exporter, told police he had been out drinking with friends in the Royal City Avenue area, and hailed a taxi to take him home at 5am. But he…
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Final member of romance scam gang arrested after being on the run for 4 years
PHOTO: Daily News Immigration officials have announced the arrest of a Thai man who had been on the run for nearly four years after being allegedly involved with a romance scam gang. In the case, a Thai woman was ‘scammed’ to the tune of more than 17 million baht. ‘Suchart’ was named in a warrant issued in 2015 as one…
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The Suvarnabhumi shopping shambles
Retailers want ‘in’ at the world’s 21st busiest airport in the world. With through-traffic of 60 million+ each year, and growing, Thailand’s biggest retailers want a slice of the passenger spend. But if you can’t get a shop inside the airport, build your own shopping centre just outside to capture passengers, and some of their money, just before they arrive at the…
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South Korean President in Thailand to sign trade agreements
PHOTOS: The Nation PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn Chan-ocha, have welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook to Government House in Bangkok this morning in the midst of an official state visit that continues tomorrow. A government spokesperson says that this was President Moon’s first official visit to Thailand since assuming his post in May…
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British man found dead in Rayong condo
PHOTO: Sanook A 49 year old British teacher at a language college in Rayong, eastern Thailand, has been found dead in his Cherng Nern apartment. Work colleagues told police that it was unusual that the man failed to turn up for work and wasn’t answering phone calls. Security at the condominium checked on the man’s room and found his body…
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Swimmers at Surin Beach left without lifesavers as Council removes funding
The President of the Cherng Talay OrBorTor (municipality), Ma Ann Samran, has not renewed the monthly contract for lifeguards protecting Surin Beach on Phuket’s west coast. As of yesterday, there are now no duty lifeguards keeping swimmers out of the water when the waves become dangerous, or saving them when they get into difficulty. Police arrived late yesterday afternoon at…
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World economy wakes up to a day when the US has imposed new tariffs on China
The US has rolled out new tariffs on Chinese products yesterday but some economists say the latest gamble is likely to backfire and hurt the US economy. Meanwhile they predict the ramping up of the tariff ti-for-tat will not tarnish China’s resilience or dampen development in the long run. Yesterday the US administration imposed 15% additional tariffs on about half…
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Smile, you’re on red light camera
Bangkok’s new Red Light Camera Systems now in operation. The new cameras will be running 24/7 to protect against drivers running red lights at major Bangkok intersections. During trial period from August 1 – 14, 22,260 drivers were caught running the red lights, an average of 1,590 drivers per day. The punishment for such a violation is 1,000 baht fine…
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New storm brings more rain to Thailand’s north-east
PHOTO: The Nation North-east provinces are being told to get ready for another bout of heavy rains that could last until tomorrow. Although ‘storm ‘Podul’ passed through the region on Friday and Saturday, another storm over southern China is impacting the weather in north-eastern Thailand. The storm currently is near Hainan Island in the northern South China Sea. The Thai…
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Roadblocks disrupt traffic to Hong Kong airport in a weekend of violence
Protests have continued in Hong Kong over the weekend. Transport to and from Hong Kong International Airport was also disrupted yesterday as protesters barricaded roads, leaving traffic gridlocked and stranding hundreds of tourists at the airport terminal. It was the 13th consecutive weekend of protests in Hong Kong, concluding days of escalation in which a number of activist leaders and…
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Changing Thailand’s helmet culture
by Patrick Mattimore On a recent trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I was struck by an interesting phenomenon traveling from the airport to my hotel. I saw perhaps more than a thousand motorcycle riders and passengers, and only one person was not wearing a helmet. Yet, the entire two weeks I spent in that city, I didn’t see…
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Fried chicken worker stabs boss in the head in central Thailand
A fried chicken vendor needed medical treatment after being stabbed in the head by a young man working for him in Chonburi province, central Thailand. Yannawuth Prasomwangsub told police that he and his wife sell fried chicken at the Sattahip flea market and hired 16-year-old Nat to help them just a week ago. While setting up shop, Yannawuth was missing…
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