News
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Safety systems at Central World found fully functional after fire
After Saturday’s fire at Central World shopping centre in Bangkok, investigators found that there was nothing wrong with the fire safety systems there. The building was inspected by district officials from Pathumwan who found that the fire alarm systems and the emergency sprinklers to combat flames were in proper working order. A small fire broke out in Groove, a semi-outdoor…
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Big Joke ready to extradite Malaysian super-crook ‘Teddy’
Celebrity cop Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn is ready to extradite a Malaysian businessman, accused of massive frauds in multiple countries, to China. Big Joke announced Saturday that Teow Wooi Huat is to be deported to China under an extradition request made to Thailand by Chinese authorities. In an interview with Malaysian news source Bernama, Surachate said he expects the extradition…
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Thai govt’s chemical castration policy takes effect next month
The Thai government is preparing to introduce its controversial chemical castration policy on repeat sex offenders next month. The Justice Ministry revealed it is preparing for the new law which is set to take effect on January 23. The policy is aimed at preventing people convicted of sexual and violent crimes from reoffending. The Senate passed the bill, allowing the…
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RTP urges Thai drivers not to ignore e-tickets, they’re real, not fake
A Royal Thai Police (RTP) spokesperson confirmed e-tickets for traffic violations have been in use since May this year and they are not fake despite claims to the contrary. Pol Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong announced on Facebook that the RTP e-tickets are real after a well-known neurologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University warned motorists of a…
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Pro-monarchy ‘dictator’ must be stopped from retiring in Australia, say Thai asylum activists
Exiled Thai activists are living in fear that a self-proclaimed “Van Helsing” “dictator” and pro-monarchy vigilante could be pursuing them in retirement. Rienthong Nanna, a doctor and former army general, announced on Facebook that he plans to retire in Perth, Australia causing fear among those who now live there after fleeing the country after his vicious campaign. Rienthong set up a…
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Father’s Day celebrated throughout Thailand today
Today, the people of Thailand celebrate Father’s Day. It is a national public holiday for schools and many businesses are closed. The holiday is celebrated on this day to honour and commemorate the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, father to the current king and a leader whom many revere as a symbolic father to all the people of Thailand. The holiday…
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Russian murder suspect arrested in Pattaya
A Russian man who fled to Thailand to escape murder charges was tracked down and arrested in Pattaya. Immigration Police worked together with the Russian Embassy in Thailand to coordinate in locating the man and taking him into custody. Now the process has begun to extradite him to Russia to face charges. Igor Guzhin had a warrant issued for his…
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6 months in, Bangkok Governor Chadchart rated highly
A new poll shows that after six months in office, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt remains popular with a high approval rating. An impressive 81.55% of people polled said that they were satisfied with Chadchart’s performance as governor so far. Only 18.47% of those who answered the poll said they were not satisfied. Chadchart was elected as governor in May in…
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Officials seize 25 tonnes of illegal meat from Chon Buri factory
About 25 tonnes of meat, worth about five million baht, intended for barbecues may now end up being cooked in a burn pit instead. Chon Buri authorities raided an illegal meat processing plant yesterday and impounded 25 tonnes of cow and pig offal along with other meats. The factory was in the Si Racha district of the eastern province. The…
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Raid roundup: Pattaya pubs, cannabis shops scrutinised
Police in Pattaya are continuing their crackdown to clean up unseemly and illegal activities in an attempt to polish the tourist city’s reputation. Over the past few days, officers carried out inspections of cannabis shops around the city as well as raids on several entertainment venues that now face closure. Early this morning, two pubs in Pattaya were shut down…
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Loan shark sends goons to attack man in hospital and steal his car
Some people never heard the phrase “don’t kick ’em while they’re down” and it shows. A man who is receiving medical treatment in a Chon Buri hospital was brutally attacked in his hospital room by debt collectors. Four men entered his room, beat him, and then grabbed his car keys and took off. They found his car in the parking…
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Insurgent bomb derails train in Songkhla
A train was derailed in the deep south of Thailand, and security officials believe it was a result of a bomb set off by southern insurgents. Train number 707 was making a short run from Hat Yai to the border town of Padang Besar in the Sadao district in the southern province of Songkhla. The train was a freight train,…
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Disruptive Phuket-bound passenger thrown off flight in Karachi
A disruptive Phuket-bound passenger on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul was thrown off the aircraft yesterday and arrested after the flight diverted to Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. After the passenger was taken into custody by local law enforcement, the flight continued to Phuket. Turkish Airlines flight TK-172 on an Airbus A330 diverted to Karachi three hours into the…
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Anutin responds to photo of cannabis smoking kids on Pattaya Beach
Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul has responded after photos of a group of 10 year olds smoking cannabis from a bamboo bong on Pattaya Beach went viral on social media. The legalisation of cannabis came with very little regulation, but a prohibition on sales or consumption by anyone under 20 years old was put in place almost immediately. Anutin has been…
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Thai student allegedly raped by Hyderabad U professor
Students at the University of Hyderabad are staging protests in support of the Thai student allegedly raped by her professor yesterday. The Thai student claimed that she was raped at the home of a senior professor last night. Local police arrested the suspect, Ravi Ranjan, said to be in his sixties. Ranjan is a faculty member in the department of…
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Phuket welcomes 6,730 flights in December
High season has arrived in Phuket, as the airport schedule lists 6,730 flights this month. The average number of flights per day throughout the month of December will reach 217, up from about 200 in November. (The busiest day in November saw 219 flight land with 10,467 passengers arriving.) Some 3,000 of those flights are international arrivals, while 3,730 flights…
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Child Protection Foundation leader faces child labour charges
Authorities in Thailand are claiming there’s a fine line between protecting children and exploiting them. Amphawa District Police in the Samut Songkhram province filed human trafficking charges against the Secretary-General of the Child Protection Foundation. The foundation has protected the rights of children, but charges accuse them of using those children as labour in a resort owned by Secretary-General Montri…
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Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor dismissed
Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor Chainarong Saengthong-aram has been dismissed by the Public Prosecutors Commission. The former senior prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was discharged after tampering with evidence in the case involving Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya. An initial report showed that Vorayuth was driving his Ferrari at 177 kilometres per hour when he hit and killed…
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Phuket flight cancellation due to earlier cancelled flight, runway maintenance
After pandemonium at Phuket International Airport on Thursday night with a flight cancellation stranding 300 passengers overnight, airport and tourism authorities say they’re more prepared and it won’t happen again. It all started when budget airline Thai VietJet cancelled a flight from Phuket to Bangkok minutes before take-off last night because staff couldn’t find a seat for one passenger. But…
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Pheu Thai Party under fire as Tuhao-Shinawatra connection exposed
Opposition Pheu Thai Party is under fire after police found that many houses connected to suspected Chinese gangster Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant were built by a company owned by the Shinawatra family. The Pheu Thai Party is the third incarnation of the party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007. On Wednesday, the Royal Thai Police raided 11 locations…
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Thai baht soars to six-month high against US dollar
The Thai baht opened at 34.78 against the US dollar today, strengthening from yesterday’s close of 35 to a six-month high. The baht’s sudden rise is down to the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) hiking the policy rate by a quarter point earlier this week. The BOT remains committed to a gradual monetary tightening policy, raising the policy rate from 1%…
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Motorcycle taxi riders rally against unlicensed ride-share app drivers in Pattaya
Over 100 Pattaya motorcycle taxi riders showed up at Pattaya City Hall yesterday to make some noise about unlicensed ride-share app drivers. The motorcycle taxi riders are calling for a crackdown, saying that these unlicensed drivers are stealing their passengers. In an open letter to Pattaya Deputy Mayor Wuttisak Rueimkitkan, the riders accused app drivers of: Not having had their…
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Stop giving monkeys cigarettes, beg locals in Lop Buri, Thailand
Locals in Lop Buri province in central Thailand – famous for its out-of-control monkey population – are begging tourists to stop giving monkeys cigarettes. Monkey lovers in Lop Buri were saddened to see a clip circulating on social media in which a visitor to the city flicked a lit cigarette to a monkey. In the clip, the innocent monkey picked…
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World Cup broadcasting soap opera drama rumbles on
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar broadcasting soap opera continues to provide drama. In this week’s episode, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is demanding the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) return the 600 million baht it handed over because it can’t fulfil its World Cup broadcasting agreement. The long-drawn-out melodrama appeared to have reached a conclusion when Thailand…
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Phang Nga officials find more leatherback turtle eggs
Turtle nesting season is well on its way in Phang Nga. Phang Nga officials found more leatherback turtle eggs, after finding over 118 of them on the same beach last month. On Wednesday, officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) said they found more nests on Bang Khwan Beach, about 500 metres from the previous nest. However, the…
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Fireworks to dazzle Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River area on New Year’s Eve
Bangkok fireworks lovers have a new treat awaiting them on New Year’s Eve. Fireworks will dazzle the capital’s Chao Phraya River area during the countdown. Bangkok’s largest shopping mall, ICON SIAM, is hosting the event, Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023, at Icon Siam River Park on December 31. The event’s theme is “win the world for Thailand.” The firework displays will be…
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Resurgence of AIDS in Thailand overshadows UNAIDS summit
News of the resurgence of AIDS in Thailand, blamed on the proliferation of dating apps, has dismayed many. Historically, Thailand has one of the best records of all countries in the region in caring for people living with AIDS. The government is now setting out to eradicate AIDS in Thailand by 2030, according to deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul on…
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Thai VietJet cancels Phuket – Bangkok flight last minute over 1 extra passenger
Budget airline Thai VietJet cancelled a flight from Phuket to Bangkok minutes before take-off last night because staff couldn’t find a seat for one passenger. The plane was already taxiing on the runway ready to depart. Flight vz2305 to Bangkok was scheduled to depart from Phuket at 8.25pm. More than 300 passengers boarded and the plane began taxiing down the runway…
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New details unfolding over alleged assault by Pattaya loan sharks
UPDATE New details are unfolding around a Pattaya woman who on Monday, November 28 alleged that loan sharks had abducted and assaulted her. The woman, 21 year old Tasneeporn Youngram, said that four loan sharks forced her into a car on Soi Paniad Chang in Bang Lamung. She said they then brought her to a deserted road, where they beat…
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Family of man who died after a hair transplant warns others to avoid cowboy clinics
The family of an Indian man who died from a hair transplant (HT) urges others to avoid cowboy clinics offering too good-to-be-true low-cost procedures. Balding Indian television executive Athar Rasheed decided to get an HT last year only for it to end fatally. The 30 year old wanted to improve his appearance, boost his confidence, and look younger, as many…
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