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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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Pattaya police invite media to inspect the Walking Street makeover – safer, better, more secure
Business owners and staff along Pattaya’s high profile Walking Street are ready to to welcome visitors, both Thai and foreigners, after waiting for over 2 years. Pattaya police have paid a visit the street in a media stunt to declare the street is now ready, and safe, for visitors to return. They’ve been setting up checkpoints and urging security guards…
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Transgender Thais are free to wear what they want at law school
Thai transgenders can now join law school and take exams at the Lawyers Council of Thailand dressing in line with their gender identity. The decision has been handed down by a gender discrimination committee. The decision was made in response to a complaint reported by a law student who had been rejected the opportunity to take a written exam because…
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Pattaya bars push to reopen, officially, and extend closing times to 3am
Pattaya officials and stakeholders have been meeting to discuss the dropping of curfews and an official reopening of bars and the city’s vibrant nightlife. Kunlachart Kunlachai, the superintendent of Chon Buri Police, chaired the meeting. Bars around Thailand, particularly in tourist magnet areas, have been forced to convert to ‘restaurants’ in order to reopen and serve alcohol. Conversions have been…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 9,721 new cases; provincial totals
77 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 28,778 with 7,080 of those fatalities since the start of this year. The trend for deaths continues to drop. It was sitting above 100 deaths per day during April. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 9,721 new Covid-19 cases and…
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Phuket Taxi driver assaults 15 year old Australian passenger
An Australian father has filed an official complaint to Phuket police saying a local taxi driver assaulted his 15 year old daughter at a parking area in a shopping centre in the middle of the island. The driver was released after an investigation and confessing to police that he just wanted to admire the passenger’s short pants. Phuket taxis are…
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8 year old Thai-Ukrainian child bitten by ‘shark’ in Phuket
An 8 year old half Thai, half Ukrainian child was reported as being bitten by an unknown sea animal at Kamala Beach on Phuket’s west coast. The officer from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources believes the animal could have been a shark. On April 1, Thai media reported that the child travelled with 6 other family members. He…
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Raising monkeys, living near forests carries increased malaria risk – health officials
The Department of Disease Control is warning of an increased risk of malaria for people living on the outskirts of forests – or raising monkeys. According to a Thai PBS World report, the parasite Plasmodium Knowlesi Malaria is behind most cases of human malaria in the region. Department boss, Dr. Opart Karnkawinpong, explains that malaria can be transmitted from primates…
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Anutin reports surge in Thailand Pass applications after Test & Go dropped
Thailand’s public health minister and deputy PM says there has been a jump in Thailand Pass applications since the ditching of Test & Go. According to a Nation Thailand report, Anutin Charnvirakul says registration has increased, with no problems reported with the simplified system so far. The health minister also commented on the Covid-19 situation in Thailand, saying that daily…
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Sponsored Article MontAzure Elevate your standard of living by residing at one of Asia’s most breathtaking residential developments. MontAzure, nestled against the soft sands of Kamala Beach, is the ultimate luxury destination. It is located on Phuket’s pristine west coast. MontAzure is a perfect location for those looking to make the most of Phuket’s sophisticated resort lifestyle. It is a…
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Officials hope Test & Go cancellation will see flights to Thailand double by year end
With Test & Go now tested and gone, the Thai government hopes to see a surge in flights to the kingdom, up to twice the current number by the end of the year. According to a Bangkok Post report, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is anticipating 83,500 flights a month across all airports by the end of 2022. The…
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Thailand and Japan sign defence transfer pact to counter China’s growing influence
Thailand and Japan have signed an agreement on the mutual transfer of defence technology and equipment, in a bid to counter growing Chinese assertiveness, according to a report in the Kyodo News. The Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, and Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, have also agreed to work together in providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and its neighbours. The agreement, signed…
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Yay May. Covid numbers down, arrival numbers up in Thailand.
May kicks off with an upbeat beginning in Thailand. Today’s May Day substitution public holiday saw the CCSA-reported daily Covid numbers drop below 10,000 for the first time since the start of February. And the number of daily deaths continues to fall below 100 after sitting over the milestone for most of April. 9,331 new Covid infections were reported in…
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“No pants for women, only black shoes for men”. Internet trolls Thai conference dress code
Dress code details for an upcoming scientific event in Bangkok has the internet in a cosmic quandary. International physicists are finding themselves scratching their head over the obscure dress code requirements for the event’s opening day that harken back to the 1950s. The 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference is being held at the Impact exhibition and convention centre on the…
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Is Thailand ready for a Clean Air Act?
Thailand has plenty of air pollution problems, from the city traffic, the black-smoke belching buses, the industry and, most of all, the smoke and smog from the burning of agricultural waste, principally in the central and northern parts of Thailand. Then there’s all the air pollution that floats in across the Laos, Cambodian and Myanmar borders. There’s also a seasonal…
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Thailand braces for higher fuel and energy costs
The full impact of international fuel price rises and inflation is about to arrive in Thailand. After many months of shielding the full impact of price rises, mostly with a diesel subsidy which capped the pump price at 30 baht a litre, the prices are now set to soar The government’s diesel subsidy has been in place since last October…
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Thailand’s wet seasons and the annual monsoons
Thailand has just three seasons… damn hot, not-quite-so-hot and wet (sometimes torrential). The wet time of the year is variously called the wet season, the green season or monsoon. Whilst some people view the rain, sometimes very heavy, as a disruption, other embrace the annual downpours and enjoy the break from the hot weather. Depends if you’re riding on a…
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Thai-Burmese border checkpoints prepare to re-open in Tak province
In the long road to ‘normal’, Thailand is now reopening many of its land border checkpoints from today. But the Thailand Pass is still in force for Thais or foreigners hoping to cross these borders. Many of the borders are reopening from today. Others this week. As the Covid-19 situation appears to ease, Thailand is preparing to re-open 2 border…
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Federation of Thai Industries concerned about plans for minimum wage hike
Thailand’s Federation of Thai Industries has expressed concern about the impact a rise in the minimum wage could have on small and medium-sized businesses. The federation says if a proposal to increase the minimum wage to 492 baht goes ahead, it will have a severe impact on such firms. According to a Bangkok Post report, the FTI was responding to…
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Feedback positive following cancellation of Test & Go entry scheme
Foreign tourists who’ve arrived since the cancellation of Test & Go have given the government’s decision the seal of approval, according to a Bangkok Post report. The publication spoke to a number of overseas arrivals to get their view on the simplified entry procedures. Canadian Kyle Sutherland confirmed that the decision to drop PCR testing on arrival has helped him…
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New upper speed limit increases to 120 kilometres per hour on some Thai motorways
From yesterday, the speed limit for all traffic will now increase to 120 kilometres per hour. The change covers at least four highways in Thailand as a pilot program. The announcement was made by the director-general of the Highways Department and is already published in the Royal Gazette. There’s been a few false starts on the raising of the national…
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Beijing’s strict Covid-19 policies limit holiday acitivties
This year’s May Day may not have been so fun for Beijing residents. The country’s ultra-strict so-called ‘zero-Covid’ policies mean buildings and housing complexes with Covid-19 cases are on lockdown. In Beijing, parks and tourist attractions are only allowing 50% of their normal capacity. All restaurants in the capital city are only serving customers take-out, with no dine-in services, from…
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How are expats coping with Thailand’s rising cost of living? – VIDEO
Sunday Thailand news update. Tim goes through the main headlines of the day then takes your questions and comments in our new weekend Thaiger Weekend Update. The main topic is the rising cost of living in Thailand and if it’s going to push out more expats who are on fixed incomes. But where will they go? An hour of the…
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Phuket driver filmed obstructing ambulance claims he didn’t hear it
A Phuket driver, who was caught on film driving slowly and erratically braking, obstructing an ambulance that was taking a seriously injured woman to a hospital, has now presented himself to police. A video clip was posted online on Thursday, causing outrage among Thai netizens. The driver presented himself at Phuket City Police Station yesterday (Saturday). He claims he didn’t…
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First flight arrives in Phuket under revised “Thailand Pass”
Phuket’s first arrival flight under the Thailand Pass updated ‘eased’ restrictions has arrived! A flight from Qatar carrying with 324 passengers landed at Phuket International Airport this morning, and an airport director said 4,482 travellers in total are expected to arrive today. The director said that throughout May, an average of 27 flights per day were expected to arrive at…
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Cambodians caught dressing as monks in Thailand to be deported
Two Cambodian nationals who snuck across Thailand’s border illegally while dressed as Buddhist monks have been caught. The 2 men, one 30 years old and the other 27, first took a bus to Samut Prakan, just south east of Bangkok capital. They then headed into a woodland behind a market in the main city district, and built a temporary shack…
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Ships caught trying to smuggle palm oil out of Indonesia after export ban
Following a move by Indonesia’s government to ban crude palm oil from being exported from the country, 2 ships were caught trying to smuggle the product to India and the United Arab Emirates. There has been a palm oil shortage in Indonesia for the past month since the Russia-Ukraine crisis has impacted the supply of vegetable oil in the country,…
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Officials worried about low number of Irrawadday dolphins in Thailand
Thai officials are worried about the low number of dolphins of a particular breed in Thailand. Despite campaigns in past years to preserve Irrawaddy dolphins, only 14 of them were found in Songkhla Lake, and 89 in the Mekong River, according to a 2020 survey. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said that dolphins often die when they get…
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Building collapses in China, 18 people possibly still trapped
A six-storey building collapsed in China’s Hunan province on Friday, with 23 people inside. Rescuers managed to retrieve 5 people alive, who were brought to a hospital and are now in stable condition, according to authorities. But at least 18 more might still be trapped. The disaster happened in the city of Changsha. Meanwhile, the mayor of the city says…
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Official promises to give Phuket’s sea gypsies housing
As part of a larger effort to provide housing for the Andaman region’s indigenous people, an official is promising to provide sea gypsies with housing in Phuket and other Andaman areas. The official, Deputy PM and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit, made the announcement yesterday while visiting a sea gypsy village. Jurin has been in the news recently, as leader…
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Pattaya drug party busted with Thai, Burmese and Chinese nationals
After Pattaya police cracked down on people dealing the drug cocktail ‘happy water‘ last week, this morning they busted an alleged ‘Ketamine’ party. Officers say the substance needed to be tested before they could confirm exactly what it was, though. Officers from Pattaya Police found 16 people at the party including 5 Chinese men, 3 Chinese women, 1 Burmese man,…
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