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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...

  • Lost and found – 64 year old French tourist

    Lost and found – 64 year old French tourist

    A French male tourist, who yesterday became lost with his son, has now been found. Last night Karon Police were notified that at around 5pm a Frenchman, 64 year old Paillereau Jean Michel, had become lost. Karon Police reported that he and his son were driving on different motorbikes heading from Phuket Town to the Thalang area. His son told…

  • Full steam ahead for the Thai high-speed railway

    Full steam ahead for the Thai high-speed railway

    PHOTO: CRRC Corporation “CRRC has also provided subways and high-speed trains for the US, Argentina, Brazil and Singapore.” Imagine getting on a train in Bangkok and being in Nakhon Ratchasima, in Thailand’s central north-east, within an hour. That’s what will happen when the first of the Thai/Chinese joint venture high-speed trains are launched. The construction for the Bangkok/Nakon Ratchasima link…

  • Alert to avoid Phuket King’s Cup Regatta area

    Alert to avoid Phuket King’s Cup Regatta area

    The Phuket Marine Office has issued a warning for boats to avoid areas where the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is being held in and around Kata Bay this week. The event started today. The warning states that, due to the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta being held from December 2 to December 8 in Kata Bay, from 8.30am to 7.30pm each…

  • Centara strikes deal for three new hotels in Laos

    Centara strikes deal for three new hotels in Laos

    Thailand’s leading hotel operator Centara Hotels, announced it has signed management agreements for three new properties with a combined total of 216 keys, with Asia Investment, Development & Construction Sole Co., Ltd (AIDC), a well-established enterprise in Laos. In the UNESCO World Heritage site of Luang Prabang, Centara plans to open an upper upscale Centara Grand Luang Prabang and a…

  • Where do old Thai Airways 747s go?

    Where do old Thai Airways 747s go?

    A Chai Nat local loved the Thai Airways Boeing 747-400 Jumbo jets so much he bought an old one when it came up for auction. OneMileAtATime.com is reporting that Thai Airways is slowly phasing out its fleet of Boeing 747s with 10 still in active service, and a further 10 stored, or for sale. Given there are hundreds of 747s…

  • 1,000 riders join dress rehearsal for next week’s ‘Bike Un Ai Rak’

    1,000 riders join dress rehearsal for next week’s ‘Bike Un Ai Rak’

    PHOTOS: The Phuket PR Office The Phuket Governor Pakkapong Tawipat along with more than 1,000 riders joined the dress rehearsal for next week’s ‘Bike Un Ai Rak’ yesterday. His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn has graciously granted permission to the Bangkok government to organise the “Love and Warmth at Winter’s End” festival at the Royal Plaza and Sanam Suea Pa in…

  • Phuket surf lifesavers wrap up local comp at Patong Beach

    Phuket surf lifesavers wrap up local comp at Patong Beach

    PHOTOS: Phuket Lifeguard Service Phuket Surf Life Saving Competition has wrapped up its seventh successful event at Patong Beach, Phuket. This year there were 19 teams for Open men’s and women’s divisions and 13 teams for Youth Boys and Girls. The winners of the event were The Zemberles Life Saving Team from The Philippines. Second place went to locals, the Nai…

  • Internet freebies rolled out for Christmas

    Internet freebies rolled out for Christmas

    The government is finalising plans to give more than 11 million low-income Thai citizens free internet SIM cards and other subsidies that will together cost taxpayers billions of baht. The roll out is part of a charm offensive from the ruling NCPO in the lead up to next year’s poll, scheduled for February 24. The Finance Ministry is proposing that…

  • Chinese tourist mixed up in a ‘misunderstanding’ in Pattaya

    Chinese tourist mixed up in a ‘misunderstanding’ in Pattaya

    SOURCE: Siamchon A melee broke out earlier today at the Taboo Club in Pattaya’s Walking Street. It got heated after a bouncer insisted that a Chinese tourist apologise to a bar girl he had ‘rejected’. Chinese tourists had headed to the bar and were then approached by bar girls. But 25 year old Yang Zhan didn’t appreciate her advances and…

  • Measles outbreak closes Tak school

    Measles outbreak closes Tak school

    A school near the Myanmar border in Tak’s Mae Ramat district has been closed indefinitely after local public-health officials discovered 13 students were contagious with measles. Tak is on Thailand’s central west border with Myanmar. Six of the students from the New Road Learning Centre are currently in serious condition in hospital. Most of the school’s students are Burmese children…

  • Thailand detains Taiwanese citizen over anti-China broadcasts

    Thailand detains Taiwanese citizen over anti-China broadcasts

    PHOTO: Taiwan News A Taiwanese businessman has been detained in Thailand for allegedly helping an underground online radio broadcast aimed at Chinese listeners. The allegations have come from Radio Free Asia (RFA). But the manager of the online radio station says Chiang Yung-hsin (蔣永新) has nothing to do with illegal broadcasts, according to the Central News Agency. Police in Bangkok…

  • World AIDS Day Thailand: Know your status

    World AIDS Day Thailand: Know your status

    The Ministry of Public Health has set a target to resolve AIDS problems by reducing the number of new cases of people infected with HIV to a maximum of 1,000, and the fatality rate of AIDS sufferers to not exceeding 4,000 cases per year by the year 2030. The announcements come on World Aids Day, December 1. Thai PBS reports…

  • Dead man washed up on Nakhon Si Thammarat beach

    Dead man washed up on Nakhon Si Thammarat beach

    The decomposed body of a man has washed up onto a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Police said the unidentified body was spotted on the shores of the beach in Moo 9 village in Tambon Na Saton in Hua Sai district on Saturday morning. Police say the man appears to have been dead for about a week and the body…

  • Five die in Sukhothai car smash

    Five die in Sukhothai car smash

    A man has died, along with his boyfriend, parents and aunt after his car crashed into a roadside tree in Sukhothai, central Thailand. Si Satchanalai police were alerted a few minutes after midnight on Saturday morning that the accident happened on the Si Satchanalai-Uttaradit road in Ban Huay Sak village in Tambon Pa Ngiew. 25 year old Saranyu Thanomjit was…

  • How will ‘Chindia’ change Phuket’s tourism future?’

    How will ‘Chindia’ change Phuket’s tourism future?’

    What exactly is this Chindia? In a nutshell it’s a flash drive marketplace with 1/3 of the world’s population – China and India. For a great number of Phuket hoteliers, the first half of 2018 saw marketplace velocity, where RevPAR’s rose on surging demand, and the most often heard comment was the ignominious ‘same same’. Though room rate growth was…

  • Netizens disagree with official numbers: The miracle 20% rise in tourist numbers

    Netizens disagree with official numbers: The miracle 20% rise in tourist numbers

    A story from The Thaiger yesterday stirred up a lot of suspicion that the Ministry of Sports and Tourism are being ‘flexible’ with the truth. The story quoted the Sports and Tourism Minister saying that, since they introduced the visa-on-arrival fee waiver (for 21 countries), the numbers of arrivals has surged 20%. He said in his quotes that the ‘bounce’ came…

  • Female tourist injured by speedboat propellor at Koh Phi Phi

    Female tourist injured by speedboat propellor at Koh Phi Phi

    A Chinese woman has been severely injured and rushed to hospital after being hit by a speedboat propeller while swimming at Koh Phi Phi in Krabi Province this morning. Police say the woman suffered cuts to her back and thighs before being rushed to the Koh Phi Phi Hospital and then later transferred to Phuket Vachira hospital by boat. Police…

  • Influx of Indian tourists expected over the next decade

    Influx of Indian tourists expected over the next decade

    PHOTO: LookEast Magazine Tourism from India will increase markedly over the next ten years. This prediction from the head of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Wichit Prakorpkoson. By 2028 he says he expects 10 million Indian visitors each year. About Chinese tourism, the ATTA chief say he expected the numbers to slow from previous trends but there will still be 20…

  • School van driver accused of raping two schoolgirls

    School van driver accused of raping two schoolgirls

    A 29 year old school van driver, accused of raping two schoolgirls aged 12 and 14, has appeared at Bangkok’s Thon Buri Court as police apply for a detention order. Suspect Natthawut Chamroen, who was arrested in Thung Kru district this week, is denying charges of “taking away” girls under 15 from their parents for a lewd act, molesting and…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…

  • Thais need to have more babies to reverse declining population

    Thais need to have more babies to reverse declining population

    PHOTO: SteemKR A government advisory body is urging the Government to come up with measures to encourage Thais to have more babies. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has urged the government to implement additional measures to improve the birth rate in Thailand, following a recent study detailing the impact of a shrinking population. Thailand, with the fertility…

  • Singapore businessman’s Porsche hits Krabi Police officer

    Singapore businessman’s Porsche hits Krabi Police officer

    A Singaporean businessman, driving a luxury sports car, has hit Krabi police at a checkpoint yesterday in Krabi. The Krabi City Police were conducting a scheduled checkpoint at about noon yesterday on Petkasem Road in Krabi City. The Porsche was driven by 65 year old Simon Ong Chin Sim, a Singaporean businessman, His vehicle struck traffic police Sen Sgt Maj…

  • Alleged drug mule shot dead in clash with troops in Chiang Rai

    Alleged drug mule shot dead in clash with troops in Chiang Rai

    PHOTO: Chiang Rai and Myanmar border at Mae Sai A drug mule has been shot dead on the border between Chiang Rai and Myanmar, and 350,000 methamphetamine pills were seized following a clash between an Army task force and a group of drug smugglers. The commander of the Pha Muang Taskforce says the incident happened at 12.30am along the Myanmar…

  • Government to give cash handouts to oil palm planters

    Government to give cash handouts to oil palm planters

    The National Oil Palm Committee, led by Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, plans to give away 1,500 baht per rai cash handout to 150,000 oil palm planters in a massive subsidy for their production cost. The subsidies arrive with almost perfect timing for the ruling NCPO in the lead up to the national election in February and the rise of the…

  • UPDATE: Two foreigners die in high speed road accident in Phuket

    UPDATE: Two foreigners die in high speed road accident in Phuket

    Two foreigners, riding a powerful motorbike, have died at the scene of the crash, after colliding with a car in Chalong. Chalong Police were notified of the incident at 11.30pm on Chao Fa West Road near a local seafood restaurant. Police and rescue workers arrived to find the car with damage on its front right side. Chalong Police report that…

  • Thai Khon now listed with UNESCO as ‘intangible heritage of humanity’

    Thai Khon now listed with UNESCO as ‘intangible heritage of humanity’

    Thai khon drama, or the ‘masked dance’ drama, is now listed as an ‘intangible heritage of humanity’ by UNESSCO. On the ceremony yesterday, UNESCO also listed Cambodia’s khon drama as an intangible heritage of humanity. Reacting to UNESCO’s decision, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha posted in his Facebook page that he was pleased with the decision and he credited this achievement…

  • ‘Recognise all citizen’s right to create a family’ – Rainbow Sky Association

    ‘Recognise all citizen’s right to create a family’ – Rainbow Sky Association

    by Pratch Rujivanarom. PHOTO: Prasert Thepsri “LGBT activists are calling on the Thai government to recognise all citizen’s right to create a family.” The Nation reports that both the Civil Code’s marriage law and the new Life Partnership Bill are in violation of the Constitution’s gender-equality principle, gender-diversity campaigners asserted as they pressed for full marriage equality rather than a two-tier…

  • Vale Matt Pond

    Vale Matt Pond

    PHOTO: Facebook/Marisa Sirirat Pond The Thaiger would like to acknowledge the passing of one of Phuket’s finest journalists, Matt Pond. Matt died peacefully yesterday morning surrounded by members of his family. Matt had worked with Class Act Media (The Phuket News) for five years and was a tireless contributor to the island’s only weekly newspaper. Apart from general news, Matt…

  • Mother killed by moving train, 2 year old daughter survives

    Mother killed by moving train, 2 year old daughter survives

    A mother and her 2 year old daughter fell from a train at a station in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The mother died while the girl survived with minor injuries. The incident took place at the Klong Chandee railway station at 10am this morning. Police say 21 year old Benjawan Duangsuwan died at the scene. Her daughter was sent to Por Than…

  • Pic of female sunbather on Phuket balcony goes viral in social media

    Pic of female sunbather on Phuket balcony goes viral in social media

    A photo of a female tourist sunbathing in a bikini on a balcony of a condo in Phuket. has gone viral in social media today. A Facebook user has posted the picture of the woman lying face down at a balcony of a condominium, her feet were dangling off the side of the building. The photographer was worried she was…