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5 hidden healthcare costs in Thailand and how to avoid them
Thailand's healthcare system is affordable and supported by the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme, offering essential services to most citizens. However, hidden healthcare costs can surprise patients and lead to unexpected expenses. These include specialist fees, insurance gaps, emergency services,...
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Sing Buri and Chiang Rai – major drug busts
Police in Sing Buri, central Thailand, say they’ve cracked open a major drug syndicate with the arrest of key members. A major drug-trafficking ring’s members were arrested along with 11,600,000 methamphetamine pills and some 700kg of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”. The announcement from the deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan yesterday. Following a tipoff by undercover police on…
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Myanmar tourism growth stalls in first half of 2018
(4 minute read) Myanmar has seen a slight contraction in tourist number during the first half of t2018. Tourist arrivals still reached 1,722,049 visits, a drop of 2%, according to the latest update by Hotel and Tourism Ministry. Thai tourists remain the top source market but China is catching up. Other tourists are coming from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Vietnam…
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Krabi tackles macaque population control
Krabi officials have neutered 157 monkeys in Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park as part of its operation to control the macaque population. The program echoes a similar program conducted to reduce the numbers of mischievous monkeys in Phuket during June. The monkeys are captured, neutered and re-moved to a new home where they can live in peace…
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Serbians on the run after trying to fire-torch their way into a Chiang Mai ATM
PHOTOS: Sanook Two Serbians are on the run after trying to use a make-shift fire-torch to break into a Bangkok Bank ATM in Chiang Mai. Sanook report that the pair tried to use a gas canister for cooking to help cut their way into the ATM next to the Ratchaphak University. But the walls of the ATM was too thick and…
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Phrae bus crash – 35 university students injured
Thirty-five students from the Uttaradit Rajabhat University have been injured following a bus and car collision on the Rayong to Chaing Mai road last night (Thursday). Four of the students and the unidentified car driver were seriously injured and the rest suffered minor injuries, including the 52 year old bus driver Wichien Phromtha. Pol Lieutenant Apichat Chuathong of Huai Rai…
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Lucky amulet or lousy shot? Cha-am man escapes gun attack.
Sanook is reporting that Cha-Am police found three casings from a 9mm gun near the Bor Prakhon housing estate by Soi 2 in Nong Ta Phot sub-district yesterday. A man was allegedly shot at six times by his son-in-law but not a single bullet hit him. The man claims that his good luck came from an amulet he bought a…
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Gang of four kids steal BKK woman’s Honda Wave
Four young Thais have been caught red-handed stealing a woman’s motorbike in Thonburi, on the western banks of the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. Posted by Wanchana Ariya, she laments about the “youth of today” and the “future of the nation” in her Facebook page. The footage showed a group of four boys stealing the bike in the Wong Wian 22 area of…
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Former US pilot shoots himself dead at house in Chiang Mai
PHOTO COMPILATION: Ban Muang A 62 year old former US pilot has shot himself in Chiang Mai on Wednesday. Ban Muang is reporting that the man’s Thai wife heard a single shot ring out at their house on the Rattanakosin Road in Chiang Mai. The woman ran to a bedroom where her husband was dead from a bullet wound to the…
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Rescuers search for 131 missing persons in Laos flooding
Laotian rescuers are continuing their search for 131 missing people. They have been missing since Monday’s fracture of the banks of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower dam causing devastating floods to villages in the southern Laos province of Attapeu. The Laos PM Thongloun Sisoulith says, “Impact of this flooding is enormous.” The Vientiane Times is reporting that the disaster…
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Aid and rescuers pour into southern Laos to help flood victims
PHOTO: The Nation Rescuers from Thailand and China are arriving at Laos’ flooded southern district of Attapeu to assist local soldiers in search and rescue efforts following the collapse of a saddle dam belonging to a major dam construction project that caused massive downstream flooding. The dam broke its banks on Monday night. Scores of Laotians remained on the missing…
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Phuket crocodile spotted off Laypang Beach
Phuket’s latest crocodile escapee was spotted from a drone yesterday (July 26) evening near Laypang Beach, north of Bang Tao Beach. The crocodile catching team were notified by local fishermen at 6pm that the crocodile was seen swimming in the water near Laypang Beach. The drone spotted the crocodile near an island off the shore of Sirinat National Park area.…
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16 billion USD wiped off Facebook shares
Facebook has had a horror day on the share market as it starts rolling out new privacy policies which are cutting into the company’s bottomline. Mark Zuckerberg, personally, lost 16 billion US dollars in the market rout. CNN reports that Facebook shares plunged 19% on Thursday after executives warned that revenue growth would slow as the company focuses on user…
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SHOW DC host photographic exhibition celebrating His Majesty’s 66th birthday
A photo exhibition to celebrate the 66th birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebyavarangkul is being held at SHOW DC in Bang Kapi, Bangkok, until July 31, 2018. A total of 66 royal photos from His Majesty’s youth through to today are on display in a unique layout that forms the shape of “66” in Thai numerals. A book…
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Croc tracks found on Bang Tao Beach
Traces of a crocodile claw footprints have been found at Bang Tao Beach today (July 26) as the crocodile search operation has struggled to find the shy reptiles citing strong wind and waves along the west coast. The crocodile search team claim they’ve found the croc-prints which, believed to be of the missing crocodile at Bang Tao Beach. The search…
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Miracle as amulet “saves” father and son in Chiang Mai
Sanook is reporting that Thai media are hailing the survival of a father and son as a miracle. The father and his three year old boy walked away from a horror crash on the Chiang Mai-Lampang highway. 30 year old Chat was travelling along Route 11 on his way home with his son from Lamphun to Muang district of Lampang.…
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Search continues for missing Indian tourist at Karon Beach
A search is continuing for an Indian man who has been missing in the seas off Karon Beach since yesterday (July 25). Karon Police were notified at 5pm yesterday that a tourist was missing. Another Indian man had already been taken to hospital after being pulled from the sea. Karon Municipality is reporting that yesterday, lifeguards rescued one Indian tourist…
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GPS tourists trackers and mandatory travel insurance – BKK travel fair seminar
PHOTO: South China Morning Post Two great suggestions at a Bangkok travel fair, both aimed at making things easier for Thai authorities without improving safety for tourists. At the Thai Chic Travel Fair seminar held in Bangkok yesterday (Wednesday), officials suggested that making it a mandatory requirement for all foreign visitors to Thailand to have travel insurance would ease the…
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Two gibbon touts arrested on Samui – three gibbons rescued
Yesterday we posted the story about Samui beach touts hawking a baby gibbon for tourist photos – a lucrative little cash business at 100 baht per photo. But the practice is frowned upon my may westerners these days and remains illegal in Thailand. Facebook blogger Arkadiy Kulev was keen to see the touts arrested. Today (Thursday), Samui police have arrested two…
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Jealous wife attacks husband with Ito kitchen knife in Chumpon
Police and rescue medics rushed to the scene of an attack on a Chumpon man. Sanook reports that Police found 38 year old Anon with serious wounds to his head and arm on a concrete road outside a house. He was taken to Sawee Hospital. They found out that the attacker was Anon’s estranged wife, 45 year old Nit. Both are construction…
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New traffic conditions at the Chalong Circle roadworks
PHOTOS: Watcharapon Thaveesin The Phuket Highway Office has announced that the roundabout is closed and traffic is diverted around the construction site, effective until November 18. The new traffic plans will make the underpass construction faster by diverting traffic away from the actual circle area. The contractor is rushing the work schedule during this period, especially over the low season as…
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New Thai stamps to commemorate HM The King’s 66th birthday
HM The King is featured on a new set of stamps issued by Thailand Post. The national post office has issued the new stamp featuring His Majesty the King to commemorate his 66th birthday anniversary this Saturday. The stamp features the King in army uniform and is priced at 10 baht, or 20 baht including an envelope. Thai PBS reports that…
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Bogus ‘botox clinic’ raided in Chiang Mai
PHOTOS: Thai Rath Thai Rath is reporting that a recently opened ‘beauty clinic’ in Chiang Mai has been raided resulting in the arrest of a 26 year old Thai woman. Yapha Nithijindawach claimed she trained as a doctor in South Korea but was unable to produce any evidence of the qualifications. She faces four charges including operating the clinic without…
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Chinese teenager rescued from Nai Harn surf
A Chinese boy and two other Chinese tourists were dragged out of the surf off Nai Harn beach after getting into difficulty in waves yesterday (July 25). The head of the Nai Harn Lifeguards, Jula Nontree, says, “The incident happened yesterday at about 4.30pm. A 13 year old Chinese boy and his two relatives went into the water while red…
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60 year old German arrested for 19 year overstay
PHOTOS: Thai Tourist Police Pol Maj Gen Surachat Hakparn, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau and the popular face of Thai crime-fighting, has announced the arrest of another 35 foreigners who were caught for visa offences, illegal entry and other crimes. This week’s roll out of the ‘X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner crackdown’ has netted what is believed to be one…
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Pattaya’s reinvention successful – “TAT strongly opposes any form of sex tourism”
From an article in today’s South China Morning Post website… Nestled on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 100km from Bangkok, Pattaya is one of Asia’s most popular tourist attractions, ranking number eight on of the list of top 20 destinations across Asia by international overnight arrivals, according to Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017. It is…
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British PM meets divers who helped in the Tham Luang rescue
PHOTO: Independent Print Limited On Monday the Australian Governor General awarded the country’s highest accolades and medals to Aussie cave rescuers. Yesterday the British PM met with the UK contingent who were involved in the mammoth international rescue. The Evening Standard reports that PM Theresa May met the British divers who helped save the boys and their 25 year old…
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14 tourists and four Thai pulled out of Nai Harn surf
PHOTOS & VIDEO: Phuket Naiharn Surf Lifesaving Club Ten Russian tourists, four Chinese and four Thais were dragged from the surf off Nai Harn beach after getting into difficulty in waves yesterday (July 24). Nai Harn lifeguards rescued 18 swimmers in total yesterday afternoon. Pictures and videos have been put on Nai Harn Lifeguard facebook page yesterday with a message…
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Marijuana across the Mekong – 350 kilograms seized
A routine naval patrol has foiled an attempt to smuggle 350 kilograms of marijuana across the Mekong into Nakhon Phanom from Laos last night (Tuesday). Rear Admiral Pisit Thongdeelert, commander of the Mekong Protection Unit for Nakhon Phanom, said a patrol vessel spotted a boat approaching the bank in Ban Na Nong Book in Tambon Chaiyaburi of Tha Uthen district.…
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One million sea shrimp released to mark HM The King’s birthday
One million sea shrimp have been released in Rawai to celebrate His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s birthday which comes up this Saturday on July 28. The release was led by Phuket Vice Governor Prakob Wongmaneerung, the Phuket Fisheries Office Chief Kowit Khaoeian and Rawai’s Mayor Aroon Solos. Vice Governor Prakob says, “Marine releases and cleaning activities have been conducted every…
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More than 3,000 volunteers join event to mark the King’s birthday
More than 3,000 registered volunteers joined a big cleaning event in Phuket Town as a mark of respect to celebrate HM The King’s birthday on July 28. A n official launch of the day’s activities ceremony was conducted in front of a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun led by Grand Chamberlain Lt Gen Sakonket Chantra. All volunteers have swore to…
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