News
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Pro-democracy coalition remains positive following weekend glitch
by Kai Chanwanpen The see-saw continues as the anti and pro-junta groups continue to tussle to form a coalition government. Meanwhile the Election Commission (EC) is no closer to announcing the allocation of Lower House seats… three weeks after the vote! They maintain that May 9 is the day they will announce the results although this deadline has been muddied…
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Princess Chulabhorn recovers after cataract surgery and back pain treatment
The Palace is reporting that HRH Princess Chulabhorn is recovering satisfactorily at Ramathibodi Hospital after cataract surgery and treatment for back pain. The medical team at the hospital report that the Princess’s back pain had eased satisfactorily so that medication will now be taken orally, instead of intravenously, until April 30. The Princess underwent cataract surgery on March 22 and…
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American Alex Dion in custody over murder of Thai national – Sydney
PHOTO: Wachiro “Mario” Phetmang – Facebook An American father, charged with the murder of a Thai man in western Sydney last year, is set to remain in custody until his next court appearance in June. Australian police have charged 38 year old Alex Dion with murder of a Thai national – the body found bound and gagged on a Sydney roadside. He…
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Report filed against Italian expat following Phuket boat collision
Relatives of a seriously injured fisherman have filed a report with the Chalong Police relating to an Italian expat who was allegedly helming a boat that collided with a long-tail fishing boat yesterday off Rawai, Phuket. Emergency responders were notified of the accident near Koh Bon off Rawai at 10am yesterday. The injured fisherman is 45 year old San Malee,…
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Navy files report against ‘seasteading’ structure off Phuket
The Royal Thai Navy has filed a report against an American/Thai couple for their ‘seasteading’ structure off the coast of Phuket. Read more about the concept and structure HERE. The ‘seasteading’ couple, that have set up a structure some 15 nautical miles south east of Phuket’s southern coast, are the subject of an official complaint by the Thai Third Naval Area…
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PM backs Khao Kwan Foundation in cannabis research
PHOTO: Thai PBS Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is instructing the Public Health Ministry and leading tertiary educators to support the Khao Kwan Foundation in the research and development of cannabis oil for medical purposes. His support is a rebuke of over zealous Narcotics Control Board officials who raided the Foundation last week, seizing the cannabis and extract oils on the…
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Taxi bike driver asks for death penalty after murder of pregnant stepdaughter
by Supachai Phetchthewee A 57 year old motorcycle taxi driver has admitted to beating his seven-month pregnant stepdaughter to death out of jealousy. He told police he killed her at her home in Bangkok on April 11 and is asking the court to give him the death penalty for his crime. Phumjai Leungthong, who then allegedly tried to commit suicide on…
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The Great Worldwide Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp outage
OMG! Will we survive the great outage of April 14? Been turning your phone on and off? Resetting your wi-fi? Sweating that you can’t post your photo of the pad thai? It’s a worldwide Facebook outage and it’s affecting everywhere in the world. It’s also affecting the rest of the Facebook family of Apps. Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are all…
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Three killed in Himalayan plane crash – Nepal
by Deepak Adhikari – PHOTO: AAP Three people have been killed and three injured after a Simrik Air place crashed into a helicopter while taking off from the Lukla airstrip near Mount Everest in north-eastern Nepal, near the border of China. The small plane was taking off this morning (Nepali time) from Tenzing-Hillary Airport, the gateway to Everest, when it hit a…
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Sea turtle returns to its nesting place – it’s now an airport!
by Philippine Daily Inquirer – Asia News Network Green sea turtles are among just a select few animals that take a long journey back to their birth place to lay the next generation of eggs. But what happens when their birth beach is no longer a nesting place but something else instead? In the Maldives, a female sea turtle’s homecoming was now…
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Phuket hotel watch – trends in 2019
by Bill Barnett of C9Hotelworks.com At the beginning of the year Phuket’s tourism and hotel sector was cautiously optimistic after a strong first half of 2018 and humbling second half. Key terms that kept popping up were Mainland Chinese, Thai Baht Appreciation, Elections and Supply Concerns. So today, with five months of performance under the belt in 2019 what are…
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Day Three: Songkran ‘seven days of danger’ in Phuket
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket As reports are tallied for the third full day (April 13 – official Songkran Day) of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road and marine safety campaign, there were a total of 12 road accidents which included 16 injuries. No deaths were reported. There have been no marine incidents to report over the three days so far. The six…
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Phuket ‘Seasteaders’ told to pack up and go home
PHOTO: An artist’s impression from the seasteading website The ‘seasteading’ couple, that have set up a ‘floating’ home some 15 nautical miles off Phuket’s coast, are now the subject of an official complaint by the Thai Third Naval Area Command (that oversee Phuket’s security). Chad Andrew Elwartowski and his Thai wife, Supranee Thepdet are said to be in violation of…
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Severe localised storms predicted for central, north and north-east until April 16
FILE PHOTO The meteorological office (TMD) says there could be localised severe thunder storms for the entire upper area of the country until Tuesday. The north, north-east, eastern seaboard and central regions, including Bangkok and surrounding areas could all be randomly hit by tropical thunderstorms. The TMD office director Phuwiang Prakhammin has warned of rain storms, thunder and lightning, high…
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The coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun
PHOTO: A younger King Maha Vachiralongkorn with his father, the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej May 5, 1950. King Bhumibol Adulyadej was coronated in a grand ceremony at the Grand Palace and around the streets of Bangkok. That’s nearly seven decades ago when the last coronation took place in Thailand. The 1950 coronation ceremony began the reign of King Rama IX,…
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Foreigner hit and dragged under Chinese tour bus in Pattaya
PHOTO: Sanook A foreign man remains in a serious condition after being knocked down and dragged under a Chinese tour bus in South Pattaya on Friday. Tourists on the bus were horrified as the tourist was pulled out from under the bus. The man’s left arm was detached and he was unconscious, according to Sanook. Sawang Boriboon foundation medics performed…
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Day Two: Songkran Seven Days of Danger
PHOTO: Thai PBS The Songkran road toll has now jumped to 105, with more than 1,000 injured on Thailand’s roads. The latest stats reported by the Centre for the Prevention and Reduction of Road Accidents. This includes incidents from days one and two in the seven day annual accident reporting campaign. Thai PBS reports that the centre reports 57 people were killed…
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Businessman could face death penalty for DUI murder of policeman
PHOTO: Daily News A leading Bangkok businessman faces the death penalty after being charged with murder for the death of a top Crime Suppression Division policeman and his wife last Thursday night. Pol Col Jatuporn Ngamsuwitchakun died at the scene in his Suzuki Swift. His 44 year old wife Nutchanat died later in hospital. Their 16 year old daughter Piyapha…
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Sacred water drawing ceremony led by Bangkok Governor
PHOTO: The grand parade was just part of the lead up ceremonies for the forthcoming Coronation of His Majesty – Thai PBS Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang has led city officials in a ceremony to draw water from a pond at the Haw Sastrakhom, a small building inside the Grand Palace. The ceremony is part of the lead up to the forthcoming royal…
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Bangkok hit by zombie apocalypse? Songkran 2019.
Is it the apocalypse? Have zombies invaded Bangkok and taken everyone away? No, it’s the one time of the year when one of Asia’s biggest and busiest cities is calm and peaceful, for just one day. Well, actually just the morning because this afternoon they come out to play, Songkran style. Welcome to Songkran 2019, Bangkok. Whilst the residents have…
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Day Two: First death in Songkran ‘seven days of danger’ in Phuket
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket As reports are tallied for the second full day (April 12) of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ Songkran road and marine safety campaign, one death was reported yesterday plus four injuries in four road accidents. There have been no marine incidents reported. The person who died was a 26 year old Burmese man, Ye Min Aung, who…
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60 million baht in damages as investigations continue into Patong fire – VIDEO
Songkran in Patong awakes to reveal extensive damage and destruction from last night’s beach road blaze. A fire started from a faulty electrical transformer in a loud and spectacular short-circuit, quickly escalating to engulf nearby roadside shops, causing damages estimated at 60 million baht. Firefighters and emergency responders arrived at the scene of the growing fire at 7:40pm around Banana…
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The four days of Songkran. Do it like a local.
Over four days of festivities, Songkran officially begins on April 13 with each day focusing on different activities and traditions. April 13 – Wan Sangkhan Lohng On this day residents clean their houses in preparation of the New Year’s festivities and the Chiang Mai Songkran parade. This procession involves the passing of revered Buddha images and parade floats through the…
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Forest fires destroy 2.7 million rai of land whilst Chiang Mai is back on top
by Tossapol Boonpat Bush fires have devastated nearly 2.7 million rai (there are 2.5 Rai in an Acre) of forests in nine northern provinces. The Mae Hong Son forest fire and haze control centre says that satellite imaging from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency shows that from January 1 to March 16, 2,680,634 rai was destroyed by wildfires.…
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Patong transformer short-out escalates into massive shop fire – VIDEO
PHOTOS & VIDEO: Phuket Traffic Office People were hastily cleared from around Banana Walk and Patong’s Beach Road was closed off as emergency crews battled to bring a growing fire under control. What started as a simple electrical short in a roadside transformer, quickly escalated into an inferno engulfing nearby roadside shops and nearby buildings. https://www.facebook.com/tim.long.9235199/videos/10156093448431516/ Firefighters and emergency responders…
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Suspect on the run after killing pregnant Bangkok woman
Bangkok police are searching for a man who has murdered his pregnant step-daughter with a domestic hammer. Police speculate that he was driven by jealousy to commit kill his step-daughter. Police were called to Ram Inthra Soi 109 in the northern suburbs of Bangkok. When they arrived they found 29 year old Nanthachaya “Noon” Janmokha dead on the second floor in…
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Six deaths, many injured as train slams into minivan in Lop Buri
PHOTOS: อาสาสมัครมูลนิธิร่วมกตัญญู เขตพัฒนานิคม จังหวัดลพบุรี Six people have died while many others are injured after a train collided with a minivan in Lop Buri, north of Bangkok, early this morning. At 4am this morning the train collided with the minivan on the Lop Buri – Bang Muang Road in Pattananikom, Lop Buri. Six deaths have been reported and another 10 injured…
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Getting ready for 5G. NCPO extends digital band payments.
Thailand’s mobile phone operators using the 900Mhz band and digital TV licensees have been given an extension for their concession fee payments. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, as head of the NCPO, has invoked Article 44 of the interim Constitution, to extend the concession fee payment schedule for mobile phone operators from 4 months to 10 months. The relaxation in the timing of payments to be made to the NBTC will greatly ease the financial…
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Princess celebrates Songkran at Laos mission in Bangkok
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously attended a Songkran ceremony at the Lao Embassy in Bangkok yesterday. The Princess, who visits the Lao mission on Songkran every year, participated in the ceremonial tying of white thread on people’s wrists for good luck, and watched a performance of traditional Thai dance. Thailand and Laos mark the traditional New Year…
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No deaths in the first day of Songkran ‘seven days of danger’ in Phuket
PHOTO: Newshawk Phuket As reports are tallied for the first full day (April 11) of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ Songkran road and marine safety campaign, no deaths were reported but five people were injured on the island. According to statistics issued by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Phuket the island saw 4 road accidents on Day One…
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