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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...

  • Colour returns to Thai TV screens

    Colour returns to Thai TV screens

    On October 1 all TV stations ‘toned down’ their programming under orders from the National Broadcasting Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). Programming was toned down both in content and the actual colours. The same was applied to most websites as the colour and saturation were ’toned down’ out of respect for the anniversary of the passing of King Bhumibol and the Royal…

  • 2017 Phuket Vegetarian Festival Calendar

    2017 Phuket Vegetarian Festival Calendar

    October 20 Official start of the Vegetarian Festival Every day from October 23 – 28 There’s a ritual paying respects to Chinese guardian angels (Ko Gun) at Bangniew Shrine and from October 22, the ceremonies can be seen at Jui Tui Tao Bo Keng Shrine and Ta Rua Shrine as well. October 23 A ritual to pay respect to ancestors…

  • THAIGER TODAY Friday, October 20

    THAIGER TODAY Friday, October 20

    Vegetarian Festival launched in Phuket | On-again, off-again, maybe on-again with Facebook meeting | Training in full swing for new lifesavers | Forecast looking good in BKK for October 26 | ‘Tara’ the elephant saved from canal.

  • ‘Tara’ given a 50-50 chance of surviving

    ‘Tara’ given a 50-50 chance of surviving

    A 15 year old male elephant rescued from a muddy canal in Phitsanulok province yesterday was lifted using two big backhoes, placed in a truck and taken to an elephant hospital in Lampang province where it is now receiving treatment. A veterinarian said the elephant had a 50-50 chance of survival due to its broken legs. Teams of rescuers, villagers and…

  • DSI claim ‘powerful people’ interfering in Krabi land-deed corruption case

    DSI claim ‘powerful people’ interfering in Krabi land-deed corruption case

    Krabi Forest – File Photo The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has said local powerful people are behind a delay in revoking an illegal land deed involving forest lands in Krabi. Saengrawee Bongkotmas filed a complaint with DSI on Thursday calling on the body to investigate delays in revoking an illegal land-deed registration for a forested area. She said that…

  • UPDATE: Got a drone in Thailand? Here’s what you need to know.

    UPDATE: Got a drone in Thailand? Here’s what you need to know.

    The days of you flying your drone carefree in the skies above Thailand are over. Last week, the Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) announced that all drones in Thailand need to be registered. The NBTC said the move came after only 350 drones out of an estimated 50,000 had previously been registered in Thailand. Owners have until January…

  • Minesweeper relic taken to Phang Nga

    Minesweeper relic taken to Phang Nga

    The minesweeper found just offshore at Nai Yang Beach two weeks ago is said to be safe and has been taken to Phang Nga. The EOD team checked the suspected minesweeper device for explosive powder and found that the inside of it is empty and safe. After identifying the mystery object – which was found submerged at low tide 30…

  • Phuket’s OrBorJor arranging training courses for lifeguards while tourists drown on beaches

    Phuket’s OrBorJor arranging training courses for lifeguards while tourists drown on beaches

    Following two drownings and up to ten ‘near misses’ on Phuket’s beaches over the past week, the first class of 30 volunteer lifeguards joined the training course organised by the OrBorJor at the Cherngtalay sports centre yesterday (October 18). Phuket’s Vice Governor, Saint Srivihok, paid a visit to the training session. During the training, there was also an officer from…

  • Another Russian tourist drowns at Karon Beach

    Another Russian tourist drowns at Karon Beach

    Another Russian tourist has drowned in the seas off Karon Beach today (October 18), while swimming in a red flag zone. This time the man was swimming at the far southern end of Karon Beach. 53 years old Evgenii Erdlei was rescued from the sea by local beach vendors and officers from the Marine Safety Unit of the Royal Thai…

  • Guns, loan contracts seized in Phang Nga raid

    Guns, loan contracts seized in Phang Nga raid

    A large amount of weapons and some loan contracts were seized during a raid by police, army and administrative officials on a snooker club in Phang Nga’s Muang district today (October 18). Provincial police chief Pol Maj General Boonthawee Toraksa led the team to search the club in Tambon Tham Nam Phud, which belonged to 35 year old Piyawat Khanpakdee.…

  • Landslide in Thailand’s north kills one

    Landslide in Thailand’s north kills one

    A Karen resident sustained fatal injuries after a downpour-triggered landslide hit a shophouse on the Mae Ramat-Ban Tak road in Tak’s Mae Ramat district on Wednesday morning. Following a 2am report of a landslide in Ban Nong Luang, police rushed to inspect the scene. They found that the shophouse and a pickup truck were buried under the landslide They found…

  • Three vehicles in a crash in Thalang kills one, injures another

    Three vehicles in a crash in Thalang kills one, injures another

    At the scene, a car, motorcycle and truck had collided. The motorcyclist died in the collision. Police presume that the cause of accident that killed the motorcyclist, 32 year old Thongmai Chairat, and injured his passenger, Natthawut Chaikham, was that they were trying to pass through the traffic jam by riding in the middle of two lanes when they hit…

  • Half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine seized – street value 1 Billion Baht

    Half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine seized – street value 1 Billion Baht

    A 30 year old Nakhon Phanom man has been arrested in Nakhon Ratchasima in possession of 508 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”, with a reported street value of 1 billion Baht, national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said on Tuesday. Thinnakorn Khomsing was spotted walking suspiciously with another man near a temple in Bua Yai district, where they…

  • Installation of nine-tiered umbrella atop Royal Crematorium to be broadcast live

    Installation of nine-tiered umbrella atop Royal Crematorium to be broadcast live

    Members of the public will be able to watch a live telecast of the upcoming installation of the grand nine-tiered umbrella at the top of the Royal Crematorium for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. On Wednesday, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn will graciously preside over the royal cremation ground at Sanam Luang in the raising of the Nine-Tiered…

  • Facebook founder heading to BKK for talks with Thai PM

    Facebook founder heading to BKK for talks with Thai PM

    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is heading to Thailand at the end of October to meet with PM Prayuth Chan-ocha. ‘Like’ that! Or maybe a ‘thumbs up’. Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak says Mark Zuckerberg intends to arrive in Bangkok on October 30 to discuss e-commerce and related Facebook issues withe the Thai PM. The Deputy PM also added that an executive…

  • New management contract for Hollywood nightclub

    New management contract for Hollywood nightclub

    The Hollywood nightclub management contract has been revoked after a shooting in the club last week while new management has been put in place. Preechawut “Prab” Keesin, owner of the venue and the head of the Pisona Group of companies, revealed that he has cancelled the management contract of the Hollywood nightclub for ‘damaging the reputation of the business’ as…

  • Young dolphin washes up on Kamala Beach

    Young dolphin washes up on Kamala Beach

    Officers from the Rare Sea Animal Division of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) have revealed today (October 17) that the dead dolphin found on Kamala Beach washed up ashore yesterday was a young Fraser’s Dolphin, which is rare in the Andaman Sea. The body is 2 metres long and weighs approximately 70 kilograms. The body was still fresh when…

  • King to mark completion of Royal Crematorium

    King to mark completion of Royal Crematorium

    After Sunday’s rehearsals, Princess Sirindhorn suggested adjustments of music played during processions. Meanwhile, HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn will tomorrow install the grand nine-tiered umbrella at the top of the elaborate Royal Crematorium for his late father. The umbrella will be placed at the apex of the Royal Crematorium’s principal pavilion. Following the installation of the nine-tiered umbrella, all scaffolding will…

  • Thinking of coming to Thailand at the end of October?

    Thinking of coming to Thailand at the end of October?

    COMMENTARY: Tim Newton Don’t come to Thailand at the end of October if you expect things to be the same same. For all the right reasons, it will be very different indeed. Not for Thais or those expats that fully appreciate and understand what’s going on, but for tourists. It’s likely that nothing much will be open on October 26…

  • Northern rains – house walls crack and roads open up

    Northern rains – house walls crack and roads open up

    Days of heavy rain have caused cracks in the land and pieces of earth have broken away in Lampang’s Mae Mo district affecting eight homes located within an eight-rai (1.3 hectares) radius early on Monday morning. Tambon Mae Mo mayor Chucheep Boonnak led disaster prevention and mitigation officials as well as local bodies and police to inspect the scene on…

  • THAIGER TODAY Monday, October 16

    THAIGER TODAY Monday, October 16

    A drowning and near-misses at Phuket beaches | Royal rehearsals in Bangkok | Crocodiles escape in Petchabun floods | Myanmar Army about to release a report about alleged atrocities.

  • Three locals arrested for drugs and gun’s in Chalong.

    Three locals arrested for drugs and gun’s in Chalong.

    Yesterday afternoon (October 15), Chalong police arrested Panya Chidchiew and Kwanjai Kaewbamrung in Soi Chalermprakiet 6 with 351 amphetamine pills and 6 grams of meth amphetamine. Police found that they are connected to another bigger drug dealer who lives in Soi Koktanod in the same area and, after an investigation, police arrested Nopporn Rawanghet on the same day with a…

  • Chinese tourist drowns near Koh Racha whilst snorkelling

    Chinese tourist drowns near Koh Racha whilst snorkelling

    Yesterday afternoon (October 15), 26 years old He Sixiang drowned during a snorkelling tour near Racha Noi Island. The man and his girlfriend went for a trip with a group of 24 people and when the snorkelling time was up the tour guide found that one passenger was missing. After searching for the missing diver, they found him face down…

  • Taiwan seeking visa-free entry for tourists into Thailand

    Taiwan seeking visa-free entry for tourists into Thailand

    PHOTO: The Nation Taiwan is seeking visa-fee entry into Thailand. A representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand, Chen-Yuan Tung, says visa free entry will attract more Taiwanese tourists and investors to the Kingdom. There were 370,000 Taiwanese visitors to Thailand in the first half od this year, a drop of 3.7 per cent. In stark contrast ,Thai…

  • Russian tourist drowns at Karon red-flagged beach

    Russian tourist drowns at Karon red-flagged beach

    A 42 year old Russian tourist, Parshukov Ole, drowned at Karon Beach this afternoon (October 15). The area of the beach the man was drowning was designated with red flags, deemed unsafe for swimming with big waves and rip currents. Patong Hospital say that the man was sent to hospital after he was swept by strong waves near Karon Circle.…

  • Elephants stampede Rohingya refugee camp

    Elephants stampede Rohingya refugee camp

    Wild elephants have trampled sleeping Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh yesterday, killing three children and a woman in the second such incident since the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Myanmar since late August. Besides those killed, four refugees from neighbouring tents were injured and were in critical condition at Sadar Hospital in Cox’s Bazar. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s de facto…

  • Russian tourists in trouble swimming off Karon Beach

    Russian tourists in trouble swimming off Karon Beach

    Karon Municipality Tourist Centre saved six foreigners off red-flagged Karon Beach this afternoon (October 14). There were initially two Russian tourists drowning 50 metres ashore. The team from the Royal Thai Navy Area 3 and officers of the Phuket Marine Security Centre used jet-skis and speedboats to fetch the duo and return them to shore safely. A little while later,…

  • Dead whale and dolphin washed up on Koh Lanta

    Dead whale and dolphin washed up on Koh Lanta

    Sub Lieutenant Nitikorn Chankham from the Royal Thai Navy Area 3 revealed yesterday (October 13) that local fishermen found a dead whale washed up on Had Nui Beach, in Koh Lanta, Krabi. Five navy officers were sent to the scene alongside agents from the Rare Sea Animal Division of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre. The officers presumed that the whale…

  • PVC warehouse blaze in Phuket Town

    PVC warehouse blaze in Phuket Town

    At about 11 pm last night (October 13), officers from the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office received a report about a fire at a one story warehouse that belongs to the Modern PVC Co. and the K P Modern Group. The facilities are located on Soi Saensuk 1, Phuket Road. The 3 fire trucks took about 30 minutes to…

  • Flooding hits Bangkok and Central Thailand

    Flooding hits Bangkok and Central Thailand

    Heavy rains lashed the capital past midnight on Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday, leading to flooding on many Bangkok roads. At around 7.30am on Saturday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Drainage Department issued a plea on its Facebook page, urging Bangkokians who have no urgent business to stay home as many roads are still inundated. At 8am,…