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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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Thai monk celebrating Songkran passes out drunk, says he didn’t do anything wrong
A Buddhist monk was found passed out on the floor with his private parts on show at his temple after he got drunk to bring in the Thai New Year. The monk, who resides at a temple in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, says he didn’t do anything wrong. The 50 year old ex-policeman, who has been ordained as…
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At least 53 dead after tropical storm Megi hit the Philippines
At least 53 people have died in landslides and floods after tropical storm Megi hit the Philippines last weekend. Rescue crews are still looking for survivors in the aftermath and the death toll is expected to climb as the rescuers discover more bodies and move into more remote areas. The storm caused landslides and floods which buried people alive and…
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More than 180 trains added during Thailand’s Songkran holiday
The Thai State Railway has added over 180 trains during the Songkran holidays, and will run through to April 17. 45,000 travellers are predicted to board the trains from Hua Lamphong in Bangkok on the first day of Songkran. The old Hu Lamphong train station has been kept running since plans to move all train services to Bang Sue, the…
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Thai government to control inflation prices for consumer products
As the Thai government attempts to control inflation, the PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says that there must be no shortages of consumer products or outages, and the prices must not be too expensive. The world wide inflation problems have been created by government’s artificially over-heating economies with quantitative easing rising energy and commodity prices and exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.…
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Two Thai women escape sinking car after GPS leads them into a canal
Another GPS horror story occurred this morning when 2 women driving home for the Songkran holiday ended up trapped in their sinking car in a canal in Prachin Buri province, northeast Thailand. Their GPS navigation system led them off the edge of the road, causing their car to drop 10 metres and land in a drainage canal. The women managed…
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80 year old woman dies after falling from the seventh floor of a hospital
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, an 80 year old woman has died after falling from her room on the seventh floor of a hospital where she was being treated for Covid-19. She was taken to the emergency room but it was too late. The incident happened at the Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat last Monday.…
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Gold valued around 4.5 million baht stolen in Nakhon Ratchasima – VIDEO
A gunman has stolen gold valued at 4.5 million in the form of gold necklaces at a Lotus supermarket in Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand. He ambushed the shop yelling… “This is a robbery. I have a gun.” The incident was caught on camera, and nobody was hurt during the heist. Other gold heists have not ended peacefully. Many Thai-style…
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Why is Thai New Years 3 Days Long? | Songkran Special
Have you ever wondered why Thai New Years celebration is 3 days long? Traditionally, each day of the Songkran festival has a different meaning. What does each day symbolise? Watch this clip to find out more about the Thai new year as Nan dives deep into the meaning and traditions of each day from 13 -15 of April.
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Chinese tourists attack Pattaya hotel worker
An incident last night when a 29 year old hotel staffer in Pattaya was injured after being attacked by a group of allegedly drunk Chinese tourists. Just before midnight the 29 year old employee was attacked and his wrists injured after trying to stop the “severely intoxicated” group from trying to drive home after several hours of drinking. He was…
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Bangkok gets the Sht Holiday treatment (their spelling, not ours)
Sht holidays has blessed us with their withering review of the Thai capital. Some may wonder where exactly they visited when they cobbled together this unpleasant collection of Bangkok sex-tourism clichés. The Sht Holidays Facebook page only has 41,763 followers but does the same for tourism around the world as Rotten Tomatoes does for film-reviews. Clearly rather cynical ‘Aussie’ humour,…
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Thai rapper ‘Elevenfinger’ suspected of bombing PM Prayut’s residence
A political rapper known as “Elevenfinger” has become the main suspect in the bombing that happened at Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha’s residence on Sunday. The rapper was pictured with the group of motorcyclists who approached the gates of the PM’s residence and threw a bomb, which exploded on the lawn opposite the house. The rapper was arrested today…
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Deputy PM’s illegal Songkran banners removed by highway officers on ‘Road to Isaan’
Thailand highway officers in the central province of Saraburi have been busy removing Songkran holiday banners from Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan on Tuesday. The officers said the banners, adorned with the smiley face of the 76 year old Deputy PM and party powerbroker, were not approved to be installed along the roadside and might annoy drivers and cause accidents. Aside…
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Drink driving claims 70% of traffic violations at start of Songkran’s ‘7 Dangerous Days’
The Department of Probation is releasing its statistics for the first day of driving violations administered by the court during the “Seven Dangerous Days of Songkran” from April 11 – 17. On Monday, the court issued 459 fines, 328 of which were for drink driving cases. The top three provinces with the most drunken drivers were Nonthaburi, Ubon Ratchathani and…
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5 Thailand expressways waive tolls for motorists during Songkran holiday
Five expressways in Thailand will waive their tolls during the Songkran holiday, in order to encourage domestic tourism by helping people save money and speed up travel times back to their home provinces. From April 12 to April 18, the Bang Na-Chon Buri and Bang Phli-Suksawat expressways will be free of charge. The Chalerm Maha Nakhon, Si Rat and Udon…
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Floods cause mass buffalo starvation at Thale Noi park in southern Thailand
More than 200 dead water buffaloes have been found floating today at the Thale Noi Waterfowl Park in the southern Thai province of Pattalung. Prolonged flooding in the region had destroyed the grasses that the buffalo rely on for food. Without it, they starved to death. Local authorities quickly rescued another 300 buffaloes, giving them dry grass and supplementary food…
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FDA approves protein-based Covovax vaccine for emergency use in Thailand
Need a Covid jab? If you’re in Thailand, you’ll have a new option. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the protein-based Covovax vaccine manufactured by Novavax for active immunisation against Covid-19. The FDA granted the vaccine emergency-use authorisation for individuals 18 years of age and older last Friday, according to a press release from Novavax. The vaccine — known…
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100 snakes emerge from flooded sewer in Chon Buri
For the first time in hisssstory… more than 100 snakes popped up out of a flooded sewer in eastern Thailand’s Chon Buri province. The snakes were caught and safely released into a natural setting yesterday afternoon, fangs to some brave volunteers. Water from “Ang Kep Nam Nong Nam Kiao”— or “The Green Reservoir” — in Chon Buri province was released…
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Thailand predicts a million passengers to catch flights during Songkran festival
Airports of Thailand, or AoT, expects about a million air travellers to transit through its 6 airports during Songkran this week. The estimate includes both international and domestic passengers who will catch flights to, from and around Thailand. Since the government scrapped the pre-travel PCR test requirement on April 1, the AoT says that’s the reason the number of travellers entering…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 19,982 new cases; provincial totals
101 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 26,289 with 4,591 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 19,982 new Covid-19 cases and 28,057 recoveries. There are now 237,399 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Thailand’s DDC to reduce quarantine for high-risk cases from 7 days after Songkran
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, or DDC, has agreed to reduce the quarantine period for people residing in the kingdom who are at “high-risk” of infection after being in contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19. Starting after the Songkran festival, the quarantine period for high-risk people in Thailand will be reduced from 7 days to “5+5” days. This means those…
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You can grow ‘as many cannabis plants as you like’ in Thai homes from June 9, but…
People in Thailand will be allowed to grow “as many cannabis plants” as they like in their own homes from June 9, according to Thailand’s health minister and medical marijuana pioneer Anutin Charnvirakul. However… if you don’t read the fine print you can still get into trouble with the law. As usual, the fine print is confusing. Bottomline, don’t be…
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Opposition leader Thanathorn indicted for lèse majesté, says he’s political target
Public prosecutors in Thailand have indicted Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit on a lèse majesté charge and for violating the Computer Crime Act on Monday. The charges centre on remarks he made during a livestream talk he gave last year, in which he discussed the government’s procurement of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and allegedly casting indirect suspicion on His Majesty the…
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Thailand’s daily Covid death toll breaches 100 for third day, new infections decline
As people throughout the country begin their Songkran break, Thailand’s daily death toll from Covid-19 has breached the 100 mark for 3 consecutive days — with 108 deaths, 105 and 101 deaths reported for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Today, less than 20,000 new infections were reported, compared to yesterday’s nearly 22,400 – in that case a downward trend. Sunday…
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Thailand aims to employ army of 150,000 migrant workers to solve labour shortage
Thailand is looking to bring in more labourers from neighbouring countries with the help of recruitment agencies, as the government seeks to employ an army of around 150,000 foreign workers to make up for the country’s low percentage of people willing to do manual labour jobs. But the general public is worried about the clutter and spread of Covid-19 from…
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Northeastern Thai man accidentally shoots and kills himself
A Thai man accidentally shot himself in the mouth and died while shooting birds on Saturday morning in northeast Thailand’s Roi Et province. Investigating officers believe that the traces of gunpowder found on the man’s toes suggest he was holding the long wooden cap gun with his toes and checking the gun’s gunpowder levels with his mouth when he accidentally…
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Thailand extends expiration dates of Covid-19 vaccines, after 3 companies re-register
The Public Health Ministry has directed hospitals to adjust the expiration dates of Covid-19 vaccines in their inventory according to each company’s new registration rules. Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines will all be extended. Deputy permanent secretary for Public Health, Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, notified all public health chiefs last week, instructing them to reset the expiration dates of vaccine doses and…
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Phuket police set up 11 checkpoints to prevent road accidents during Songkran
The Songkran holidays, or the Thai New Year, is a time notorious for road accidents all over Thailand. During the long holiday, drunk driving increases and road accidents are even more common than usual on Thailand’s dangerous roads. Phuket police officers have set up 11 checkpoints around the island to catch anyone drunk driving or driving dangerously and to help…
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Oklahoma woman searches for Thai mother, nearly 50 years after US family adopts her
An American woman is searching for her Thai mother, who is believed to live in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani. She says her father was an American soldier who met her mother when he was based in Thailand during the Vietnam War. In March of this year 49 year old Kristy Sinsara Hudsud, an American singer and songwriter, started…
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Chiang Mai elephant camp invites tourists to visit for free this Songkran
If you can’t splash each other this Songkran, splash an elephant instead — in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai’s Maesa Elephant Camp invites tourists to splash in the water with elephants during the Songkran holidays, which will be celebrated this week from April 13 – 16. The camp is open from 9am – 3pm every day and admission is free. After…
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Nok Air resumes Bangkok-Betong route, partners with allies to fill charter flights
If at first you don’t succeed, try again — with a few more friends. That’s the message from Thailand budget airline Nok Air, which is teaming up with a handful of tourism industry partners in a renewed bid to provide charter flights from Bangkok to the recently opened Betong airport in Yala province in the south. Beginning on April 29,…
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