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Sponsored This Valentine's Day, protect your loved ones with comprehensive health insurance
Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love, care, and the bonds we share with those who matter most. This Valentine’s Day, show your love in a thoughtful and lasting way by choosing health insurance for your loved ones. Unlike...
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Activist vows university rally will take place, with or without permission
The political activist Parit Chiwarak, aka. “Penguin”, says a rally planned for September 19 at Thammasat University will go ahead, even if permission is refused from the University’s management. The gathering is set to take place at the university’s Tha Phra Chan campus in Bangkok, with Parit saying he expects around 50,000 people to attend. Khaosod English reports that the…
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Monkeys take over Songkhla home while family away for holiday
Monkeys took over a Songkhla home in Southern Thailand while a family was away during the 4 day long weekend holiday. Monkeys were on the roof, in the trees and on the fence while trash was scattered across the yard and driveway. Luckily, the monkeys couldn’t get inside the home (although we bet they tried). Monkeys frequent the area near the…
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Protest leaders Anon and Panupong freed from jail on court order
Two prominent anti-government protest leaders have now been released from Bangkok Special Prison, where they were being held on charges of violating their bail conditions. The human rights lawyer, Anon Nampa, and political protester Panupong Jaadnok, have been in and out of prison in recent weeks and, while out on bail, addressed the crowd at an anti-government rally, thereby breaching…
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Foreign Ministry refutes Amnesty allegation that Thai government is gagging protesters
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry has hit back at an Amnesty International statement that accuses the Thai government of violating citizens’ rights to free speech and freedom of assembly. The statement, sent to Amnesty’s 8 million members worldwide, calls on followers to petition Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to drop all charges against 31 leaders of anti-government protests. Amnesty is also calling on…
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970 now tested as part of the investigation into the infected Bangkok DJ
3 of the bars where the 37 year old DJ, Thailand’s first locally transmitted Covid-19 case in 101 days, are said not to have observed basic preventions required in a workplace – temperature screening, wearing a face mask and social distancing. It’s also been revealed that the bars offered a “glass sharing” special menu as part of their promotions. The…
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2 insurgents killed, 4 ranger injured in Songkhla clash
Rangers have shot and killed 2 suspected insurgents in the latest clashes in Thailand’s Deep South, this time in Songkhla’s Chana and Thepha district last night. Police and soldiers headed to the area after receiving reports that 4 insurgents were in the ares and travelling on 2 motorcycles. The suspects dispersed as the police and soldiers arrived. 3 separate clashes followed.…
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Car bursts into flames as the new owner drives home after buying it
A 28 year old man who bought a second-hand car in the central province of Angthong got the shock of his life when the vehicle burst into flames as he was driving it home. The Pattaya News reports that Charaswit Bank was driving his just-purchased second hand Honda Civic home to Sattahip, in the eastern district of Chon Buri, when…
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Tak hospital doctor pleads for medical supplies to treat Burmese Covid patients
A hospital doctor in the northern province of Tak has taken to Facebook to plead for donations of medical supplies and personal protective equipment. Nattagarn Chuenchom works in a state-run hospital currently treating Covid-19 patients from neighbouring Myanmar, which is experiencing a small surge in virus numbers. The current total of cases in Myanmar is 1,419. Yesterday another 166 cases…
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Minister eases local concerns over Phuket tourism plan
The Minister of Tourism and Sports has rushed to reassure Phuket locals who have voiced concern over a tentative plan (now postponed) to re-open the province to foreign visitors. Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn says there may have been some miscommunication, as he reassured Phuket residents that they would not be forced to accept any tourism plan. The minister, along with a…
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Foreign tourist dies after falling from cliff at Ranong waterfall
A tourist from Uzbekistan has died after slipping from a cliff edge while taking a photograph in the southern province of Ranong. The man, named in a Nation Thailand report as Soipov Abdullokh, was visiting Ngao Waterfall National Park with 5 Russian tourists. Ngao Waterfall National Park is between Ranong and Chumpon in Southern Thailand. The incident happened around 1.00pm…
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Splitting atoms in the Big Bang – a day in the Big Mango
OPINION by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Despite the global pandemic, Bangkok’s rapid-fire megacity growth trajectory has remained largely in place. While life in Covid-19 times is a bit like sparring with wild gangs of chaos monkeys in a dead-end ally, thankfully one of the singular guilty pleasures of these strange times is the ability to at least travel domestically. Last…
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Rise of food delivery apps in Thailand exposes rights disparity
The owners of the highly popular food-delivery apps are facing growing calls to improve welfare rights for their workers, as more people opt to take on a full or part-time job as a “rider”. Speaking at the online seminar, “When Riders Strike Back”, Akkanut Wantanasombut from Chulalongkorn University says employment law needs to be expanded to cover new roles such…
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London to New York in under 4 hours – Will there ever be another Concorde?
We’d flown in propeller-powered planes, then jets. Supersonic was the next evolutionary step in flying people around the world as the 1960s came to a close. Now, 50 years after Concorde’s early flights, supersonic flight is again just another aviation pipe dream as we pack into our cheap ‘flying buses’ which are not much different from the first successful commercial jets…
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Car damaged by construction debris falling from high-rise building in Pattaya
Construction debris has fallen from a 23 storey building in Pattaya, badly damaging the parked car it landed on. Police in the city were notified of the incident, which the Pattaya News reports happened around 7.30pm last night. Khok Kriat, the 51 year old owner of the white Honda Jazz, filed the police report as a result of his hatchback…
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Bringing Thai nationals home is a team effort
As the world ground to a crawl thanks to Covid-19, things began ramping up at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with staff working tirelessly to help Thai citizens abroad get back home. MFA staff are based both in Thailand and overseas and are tasked with assisting Thai nationals during emergencies such as natural disasters or indeed, a pandemic, wherever they…
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Thai tourism cavalcade rolls into town to get feedback on Phuket Model
The who’s who of Thai tourism toured Phuket over Saturday and Sunday speaking to local tourism players and local officials about the situation on the island and gather some feedback about the so-called “Phuket model” which had been proposed to open the island to limited tourism from October 1. Ironically, the delegation rolled into town when the island was probably…
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PM denies government split over toxic chemical ban
As officials continue to debate a recently-introduced ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos, the PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha denies the government is split on the matter. He points out that coalition governments will always have differing viewpoints and that such differences will not affect the administration’s overall unity. Currently Glyphosate hasn’t been included in the ban. “Our core priorities are public health…
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Returning happiness back to the Thai people. So how’s that going?
OPINION “The flames are rising. Let us be the ones who step in, before it is too late.” Lyrics from the Prayut-penned ditty which was written to help “heal” Thais after the May 2014 coup. The event, some 6 and a half years ago now, brought then-General Prayut Chan-o-cha to the helm of the good-ship Thailand. Following the writing of a…
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12 workers injured as tunnel collapses in north-eastern Thailand
A tunnel under construction in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima has collapsed, injuring 12 workers. The tunnel is an underpass running below the Map Kabao-Jira Junction dual railway track. The underpass was bring constructed by the Italian-Thai company. According to the Bangkok Post, the scaffolding being used gave way due to concrete being poured unevenly, creating too heavy a…
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100s of protesters defy orders, arrests at Melbourne demonstrations
UPDATE: The city’s lockdown provisions have been extended another 2 weeks. Australian police have arrested protesters in Melbourne as 100s of people joined protests against the various state Covid-19 restrictions. The protests have been particularly large and vocal in the souther city of Melbourne which has been under draconian lockdown provisions for 5 weeks. Some anti-Covid-19 restriction groups also shifted…
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Students gather at Education Ministry, issue ultimatum
“Thai education has made us puppets. We are not robots of the system; we are the youth and have the right to express ourselves.” The Education Ministry in Bangkok has been chosen as the stage for another student rally, with around 300 young people, from 50 schools, gathering there yesterday afternoon. The students have been repeating their 3 key demands,…
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Phuket re-opening could be postponed
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says plans to re-open Phuket to foreign tourists could be delayed as a result of the country’s first local case of Covid-19 in over 3 months in Bangkok. TAT governor, Yuthasak Supasorn, was speaking as officials visited the island to meet with local businesses and discuss disease prevention measures and preparations for a scheduled October…
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Mobile Covid-19 testing unit at condo after resident tests positive
A mobile coronavirus testing unit was parked in front of a Bangkok condominium today after a former resident tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week. The Urban Institute for Disease Prevention and Control says they stocked the biosafety trailer with enough equipment to test 300 people. A 37 year old DJ tested positive for Covid-19 during a routine check at…
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Man arrested for allegedly trafficking 112 million baht worth of drugs
Police arrested a 50 year old man for allegedly carrying 112 million baht worth of illegal drugs. Police searched his pickup truck at a Sakon Nakhon checkpoint in Northeast Thailand and found 75 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills and marijuana. The methamphetamine was separated into 1-kilogram packs. They also found 2,000 methamphetamine pill, known as speed, police say. The…
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Thousands head to Koh Chang, 3 hour wait for island ferry
Cars full of tourists headed to Koh Chang waited for hours in a 2 kilometre long line to get on the ferry to the island. More than 10,000 people are expected to visit the island for the 4-day weekend. Many have Friday and Monday off work as substitute holiday time for Songkran which was cancelled in April due to coronavirus…
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2 foreigners arrested for allegedly selling illegal guns, grenades
Police arrested a Singaporean and an Indonesian man for allegedly selling illegal guns, explosives and ammunition after police found bullets, grenades and handguns in a condominium in Bangkok’s Huay Khwang district. The Singaporean man, known as 26 year old Bink, and the Indonesian, known as 32 year old Aiden, are facing charges of possession and selling of guns and explosives without…
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Woman allegedly kills elderly stylist over bad haircut
A young woman was arrested yesterday after she allegedly killed an elderly hairstylist for giving her a bad haircut. Araya Sra-On is facing charges of intentional murder as well as robbery for allegedly stealing jewellery off the woman’s body after she’d allegedly murdered her. Police say Araya has admitted to killing 74 year old Banyat Kanthong at her shop in Phitsanulok,…
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Covid-19 restrictions are back in Phang Nga
Coronavirus restrictions are being reimposed in the southern province Phang Nga after a local transmission was detected in Bangkok. The virus outbreak in Myanmar also continues to raise concerns. It’s the first province to reimpose virus prevention measures. Those who enter the southern province Phang Nga from areas considered “Covid-19 outbreak zones” will need self quarantine for 2 weeks. The…
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Thai health authorities track and trace 600+ people linked to 37 year old DJ
More than 600 people are now being traced as a result of the random Covid-19 case of the 37 year old DJ who tested positive last Wednesday without being out of the country at any time. Thai health authorities are under pressure to find the source of his infection. It’s only 1 local case after exactly 100 days of no…
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Amnesty International says drop the charges pressed on protesters
“This recent slew of arrests of peaceful demonstrators illustrates the authorities’ intensifying crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly.” Amnesty International is calling on the Thai government to drop the charges pressed on pro-democracy activists. So far 31 activists have been arrested on charges relating to their involvement in the July 18 rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument. Many leaders of the…
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