News
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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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Northern temperatures to drop 3-5 degrees Celsius
OK, so we’ve exaggerated a bit. Mercury in Thailand’s north is set to drop another 3-5 degrees from tomorrow until Friday. Meanwhile southern regions are facing forecast rains and isolated heavy rain in some areas. The Thai Meteorological Department says another strong cold front out of China is looming south to cover the upper regions of Thailand from October 30-November…
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Bangkok bus crashes into power pole – nine injured
FILE PHOTO Eight people have suffered minor injuries following a Bangkok city bus on route number 48 (Ramkhamhaeng 2-Wat Pho) crashing into a power pole near Sukhumvit Soi 48 in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district this morning. The incident caused a long traffic jam. The incident reportedly happened when the driver slammed the brakes to avoid hitting a pickup truck that…
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Missing Lion Air 737 – UPDATE
SCREENGRAB: Flightradar24 • Flight JT610 was a Boeing 737-800 MAX, the latest version of the manufacturer’s workhorse 7373 single-aisle jet. • The aircraft was almost brand new. It was delivered to Lion Air on August 13 this year. • Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet before losing height, then regaining height, before…
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Lion Air flight missing after scheduled take off from Jakarta
SCREENSHOT: Twitter/Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Crisis Center Penanganan Jatuhnya Pesawat Lion Air JT 610 A Lion Air Boeing 737 with 188 passengers on board, has crashed into the sea shortly after take off from the Jakarta. This is what we know… • Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands. It…
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Thaiger Radio News – Monday
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Even more blacktip reef sharks spotted at recovering Maya Bay – VIDEO
Blacktip reef sharks have again been spotted at the recovering Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi yesterday. Director of the National Park Management Division Kamon Nuanyai says, “at 8am yesterday Hat Nopparat Thara – Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park officials have recorded a video clip of Blacktip reef sharks near the shores at Maya Bay. During the ongoing Maya…
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Volvo explodes into flames outside Phuket Temple
Fire has engulfed a parked Volvo sedan next to a temple in Phuket town. The car’s owner was taking part in a funeral inside the temple last night (Sunday). Firefighters were notified of the incident at Wat Kosit Wiharn Temple in Phuket Town at 7.11 pm. Two fire engines headed to the scene along with Phuket City police. The engine…
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A tonne of marijuana seized on the banks of the Mekong
Thai authorities have seized 1,000 kilograms (1 tonne) of marijuana from a spot along the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom province around midday yesterday (Sunday). The Tha Uthen district chief Bhumisak Khampu conformed the discovery. He joined the officials in inspecting the drug stored in 25 black plastic parcels. Patrol police and Mekong naval patrol officers found the items along…
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Huge gains in reduction of single-use plastics – 30 universities
A network of 30 universities across the country has succeeded in reducing the number of single-use plastic bags, utensils and cups by 41 million pieces so far this year, it was announced during the Sustainable University Network of Thailand Conference 2018 hosted by Thammasat University. And that’s just at 30 universities. The Nation reports that the 30 universities’ plastic-use reduction…
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Unofficial confirmations that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was aboard crashed helicopter
FILE PHOTO Although there haven’t been official verifications from authorities, it appears likely that Thai duty free supremo, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was aboard his personal helicopter when it crashed soon after take off following a league match last night, UK time. Two leading media sources have led with news of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha being on the helicopter when it took off. The Leicester…
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Government mobilizes a new war on drugs
South East Asian governments have declared various ‘wars on drugs’ over recent decades, most notably President Duterte and The Philippines (2016 – 2018) and Thailand’s former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra in 2003. Both of them have had questionable results with rights groups decrying the extrajudicial killings as trampling on basic human rights. In February 2003, the Thai government, under then Prime…
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Southern border wild boar smuggling risks spread of African swine fever
Thailand’s southern provinces are facing new risks from a viral strain called “African swine fever”. Experts say this is due to the many wild boars that are being smuggled in to the region over the border with Malaysia. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the disease is highly contagious and affects both wild and farm pigs. It has…
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The new-Boracay opens with a whole new set of rules
It’s open again. Boracay Island, forced to close after being described by Philippine President Duterte as a ‘cesspool’, has undergone a major makeover of infrastructure and opens with new rules to help control tourist growth in the future. Tourists flooded back onto the island today as the island re-opened. Suffering the same problems as Maya Bay and southern Thai islands,…
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Viral posts claim Tesco Lotus is laying off staff and closing stores
A rumor, stating that Tesco Lotus is laying off staff and closing 43 branches around Thailand has gone viral in social media. Matichon Online reported yesterday that social message is saying that… “Tesco Lotus lay off staff around the country. What will they do next and can other staffer handle the pressure.” (Translated) Some people have commented saying…. “…my branch…
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Leicester City club owner and King Power founder, Vichai’s helicopter crashes
A helicopter owned by the Thai Leicester City football club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has crashed in a ball of flames in the car park of the club yesterday following a Premier League match. At this stage it’s not known who was in the helicopter at the time. The Premier League club has not confirmed whether its owner was on board at…
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Phang Nga Court convicts 11 men over gang rape of 14 year old
A Phang Nga court has convicted 11 men and sentenced them to lengthy jail terms for gang-raping a 14 year old girl in the province last year. Read the original story we broke on The Thaiger HERE. News about the assaults came to light in September 2017 after the mother filed charges with police. She outlined a litany of abuses…
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Muay Thai for five year olds – Sport or child abuse?
Video of two five year olds fighting in a boxing ring has sparked a lot of reaction. The young kids in the 17 kilo division (yes, there’s such a thing) are shown punching each other’s heads, with the occasional kick, as a crowd of baying adults urge them on. Sanook reports that as one boy is repeatedly forced into a corner…
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Last weekend’s horror road toll – nearly 11,000 died so far in 2018
At least 10,794 people have lost their lives on Thailand’s roads this year. This tally, with only two months remaining, is a timely reminder of the danger that lurks on Thai roads from Dr Taejing Siripanich, secretary-general of the Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation. Statistically, compared to last year, this is a drop in overall deaths on Thailand’s roads. But Taejing…
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Restoring faith to the national airline
On October 8, a Thai Airways 747-400, with only 115 onboard including the crew, skidded off the runway at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The story and photos reached around the world placing the embattled airline in a position to explain the incident. There were no fatalities and all passengers were safely evacuated and went about their holidays. Since then the silence over…
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Two killed and nine injured in van and wild elephant collision
FILE PHOTO A van driver and a passenger have been killed and nine other passengers injured when their chartered van hit a wild elephant on a road in Chachoengsao’s Sanam Chaikhet district, near the Cambodian border, early today (Saturday). The large injured wild elephant fled into to the forest following the accident in Ban Huay Some village in Tambon Lard…
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100 million baht of counterfeit goods seized in Patong
Acting Immigration Police Chief Maj Gen Surachete Hakparn last night headed down to Soi Bangla and seized more than 50,000 counterfeit items with a street value of more than 100 million baht. Illegal foreigners, allegedly working without proper papers, were also arrested. Maj Gen Surachete says, “Phuket is one of Thailand’s most important tourism destinations. Many people from difference countries…
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“X-Ray Outlaw Foreigners” is just racial profiling
Website NewsOne publishes a stunning attack on Thailand’s racially-fueled immigration round-ups. “Thailand’s immigration crackdown has swept up refugees and asylum seekers, sent young children into horrid, prison-like conditions, and appears to have clear aspects of racial profiling against South Asians and Africans.” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch Written By Nigel Roberts Thailand is not hiding its use of racial…
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Judge delays sentencing in paedophile case
Jason Daron Mizner during his prison term in Thailand An Australian judge says she was left so shaken by reading out the list of paedophile’s crimes that she walked out of court to delay sentencing. She said she needed to remove emotion from the punishment she will hand out. Convicted child rapist Jason Daron Mizner was supposed to be sentenced…
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Superyacht going cheap – 1MDB investigators auction off seized boat
The bidding process for the billion-baht superyacht ‘Equanimity’ will begin on Monday and run until November 28. 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) counsel Ong Chee Kwan has confirmed the matter after meeting High Court (Admiralty Court) Judicial Commissioner Khadijah Idris in chambers yesterday. “Those who are interested to bid need to pay US$1 million as deposit,” he said. Also present were…
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Man found dead in his car at Ranong
A Ranong man has been found dead inside his car at a tourist spot today. Ranong is a five hour drive north of Phuket. Police were alerted this morning that a car had been parked overnight in the parking lot of Grass Mountain in the main central district. When police unlocked the car they found the body of a man,…
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Malaysian flight MH370, or is it a pile of rocks?
An amateur UK sleuth claims this satellite image from Google Earth shows the outlines of what could be the doomed MH370 jet off the coast of Thailand and Myanmar. The object he has presented as evidence appears to be shaped “like a large passenger plane”, sparking an unlikely theory it could be the missing jet itself. “I’ve got a feeling it…
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British family told to raise 4,000 pounds to repatriate father of five
by Abbie Bray – Devon News The family of an British father, who tragically took his own life whilst holidaying in Thailand, are trying to raise money to repatriate the body of Kevin Rowlands. The 36 year old father of five had had a history of mental health according to his family. According to Thai police, he took his own…
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13 provinces on alert for flash flooding
The Deputy PM Gen Chatchai Sarikalya explained today that winter will officially begin in the nation late this month and the Meteorological Department has assessed that rains in all regions except the south will be 10-20 percent less than the usual average for this time of the year. Meanwhile, flood warnings are in force in the south until Saturday night. Permanent Secretary…
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Warning for boats going to sea
The Phuket Marine Office has made an official announcement for boats to be “careful when going to sea”. The announcement was issued today stating that “The Meteorological Department of Thailand (TMD) has forecast today that the Andaman sea wave waves more than two metres in the open sea.” “For navigation safety, boat captains have to be careful when going to…
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Thaiger Radio News – Friday
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