News
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Sponsored 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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Songkhla officials investigate pricey street lamps
Officials in Hat Yai, a city in the southern province of Songkhla, are investigating whether they paid too much money for street lamps. Reportedly, this the third such allegation made toward a local administration in Thailand… This month. The new Hat Yai mayor, Sakhon Thongmunee, has ordered a panel to be established after he got the news that an administrative…
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Illegal casino operator accused of 4 charges including murder
A man who is alleged to have been running illegal casino operations is now facing indictment on 4 charges, including murder. The Crime Suppression Division has called for the charges to be filed against Somchai Jutikitdecha, the 56 year old suspect that goes by Longjoo Somchai. The CSD first arrested Longjoo back in February of 2020, accusing him of being…
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Survey shows lack of confidence in Government’s handling of vaccinations
Despite the mass vaccination campaign that has seen around 900,000 more vaccinations given, a lack of confidence in the government’s approach to Covid vaccinations still reigns. According to a new survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University (AKA the Suan Dusit Poll), over half of respondents had doubts that government could reach its stated goal of inoculating 50 million people…
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Goverment kind of discloses what the secret budget is spent on
The Thai government has shed some light on its “secret budget allocations” to parry criticisms that it should increase transparency about money being used on defence. The Prime Minister Operations Centre shared details on its Facebook page. They say the secret allocations taken out of the 3.1 trillion baht budget deal amounted to only .03% of the total (930 million…
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Man busted for allegedly possessing over 100 marijuana plants, selling marijuana online
Yesterday, police in the eastern Thai province of Sa Kaeo arrested an unnamed man for allegedly selling marijuana online along with possession of marijuana. At the 42 year old man’s residence, police allegedly found 111 marijuana plants in the backyard. The plants, strains unknown, were seized as evidence. Reportedly, police also seized 16.6 kilograms of marijuana, also known as dope,…
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Bangkok parks, salons, tattoo, massage reopen Monday
Does your dream day in Bangkok start with a manicure before viewing some great art or history, followed by a stroll through the park, maybe a quick neck tattoo before ending the day with a nice massage for your tired feet? If so, the restrictions in place for Covid-19 has had you sitting at home bored, waiting for everything to…
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TAT declares Phuket “is ready” to reopen for tourism on July 1
Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn attended a meeting with Phuket officials yesterday following months of vacillation by local tourism officials and central government departments. The tug-of-war between public health imperatives and Thailand’s battered tourist industry has caused a constant barrage of changes to announced details. “There will be no quarantine for foreign visitors under the Phuket Sandbox scheme…
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Covid UPDATE Sunday: 2,804 new infections and 18 Covid-related deaths
The Thai public health department has announced another 18 Covid-related deaths and 2,804 new infections. 409 of today’s cases come from the prison system. The numbers coming out of the public health department, and announced each morning at around 11.30am by a CCSA spokesperson, have been statistically similar for the past 2 months, with the exception of the cases coming…
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Are we losing the fight against child labor?
When global coronavirus lockdowns and economic disruptions closed schools and curtailed millions of families’ income, an alarming increase in child labor across developing nations made headlines. But even before the pandemic, the number of children forced to work was on the rise. A report by the International Labor Organization found that 160 million children around the world are engaged in…
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Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says ‘harsh’ sanctions needed
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya — currently living in exile in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius — has called for harsher sanctionsagainst strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, adding this is the only effective way to put pressure on him and his administration. “Lukashenko only understands the language of force and economic sanctions. This is the mechanism that should be used … the…
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US President Biden persuades G7 to be more competitive towards China
The Group of Seven (G7) rich industrialized nations and the EU are presenting a harmonious front at their summit in the Cornish seaside resort of Carbis Bay in southwestern England. Diplomats seem pleased new US President Joe Biden is making transatlantic cooperation possible once again. While heads of state and governments meet in small groups or stroll along the beach,…
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Pattaya October reopening hampered by obstacles
Pattaya has been working on its reopening plan, aiming to bring back international tourism in the fourth quarter of 2021. Officials have launched the “Pattaya, Move on” scheme which aims to open back up the popular tourist city in October, but the Public Health Ministry disagrees with their plan so far. The goal is to reopen Pattaya without the need…
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Pfizer vaccine application received, review process begun
The Food and Drug Administration in Thailand is now processing the application for the Pfizer vaccine for domestic use against Covid-19. The secretary-general of the FDA says they have received the application from Pfizer Thailand and have begun the review process, taking the vaccine one step closer to use in Thailand. The government had just submitted an order of 20…
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Covid-19 prevention leads to 14 arrests of longterm overstays
While attempting to curb the spread of Covid-19 through migrant workers and illegal immigrants, Immigration Police have arrested 14 foreigners with “egregious overstays”. Today’s announcement of the bust of 14 foreign nationals took place mostly in northeastern provinces. The Immigration Chief explained that officials at immigration have been proactive in seeking out people who entered Thailand illegally to prevent an…
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Covid UPDATE: 3,277 new infections and 29 deaths, provincial totals
There are another 29 Covid-related deaths and 3,277 new infections announced today. 892 of today’s cases were from Thai prisons, an ongoing source of infections where around 22,000+ inmates have now been detected as new Covid cases (more below). Here’s the provincial totals for today… • Meanwhile the Thai Justice Ministry says the start of a vaccine rollout in the…
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Red tape and restrictions suggest a slow Phuket reopening
With the rollercoaster ride of the Phuket Sandbox reopening scheme, some government officials remain mostly optimistic, while many others are scaling back predictions and expectations. A slow return of tourist to Phuket is forecast as the plan, which won’t be officially approved until just days before the scheduled reopening on July 1, is meeting with a fair amount of blowback…
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Koh Samui eyes August 1 reopening, “Samui Sealed Route”
While Phuket’s July 1 reopening is hotly debated, Koh Samui has been quietly vaccinating its population and putting together plans to welcome tourists back, proposing an August 1 reopening. The proposal aims to ease Koh Samui and neighbouring islands Koh Phangan and Koh Tao back into tourism, potentially as a second stop for travellers arriving into Phuket with their Sandbox…
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Village need rain? Have you considered a giant penis?
Yothaka Subdistrict of Chachoengsao province is a fertile low river plain along the Nakhon Nayok River with rich agriculture. Since the residents there are heavily dependant on farming and therefore rain for their crops, locals in one village have a tradition to call in the rainy season by really using their (other) heads. Bringing new meaning to the phrase “member…
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Covid UPDATE Saturday: 3,277 new infections and 29 deaths
The public health ministry has announced another 29 Covid-related deaths and 3,277 new infections for Saturday. 892 of today’s cases have been from Thai prisons, an ongoing source of infections where around 22,000+ inmates have now been detected as new Covid cases. • Meanwhile the Thai Justice Ministry says the start of a vaccine rollout in the overcrowded prisons started…
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COVID vaccines in the workplace: Can I ask who got their shots?
Jon works for the local government in the US state of Virginia. The 40-year-old received both his COVID shots in April. Most of his coworkers are vaccinated, too. But how does he know that’s the case? “I find most people will volunteer the information,” Jon told DW. “Even though we’re not supposed to ask.” In many other workplaces around the…
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Site launched for June 14 vaccine signup for all foreigners
The latest update on Thailand’s Covid-19 vaccine registration plans indicates that all foreigners can sign up online from June 14. The Thailand Intervac website seems to be constantly evolving and was first opened for diplomats on a specific URL and then for general foreigner signups on the main site, though hiccups and problems are often reported. The main site was…
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UN report: Changes in Southeast Asia drug trafficking during the pandemic
While the notorious Golden Triangle remains a major production base for methamphetamine, drug syndicates in Southeast Asia have changed up trafficking routes and added production bases to not only survive but capitalise during the pandemic. Large-scale methamphetamine production has emerged in Cambodia during the pandemic, according to the annual UN Office on Drugs and Crime report on synthetic drugs in…
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United States to return 27 stolen antiquities to Cambodia
The United States is returning 27 stolen antiquities to Cambodia. The antiquities, which include Buddhist and Hindu statues from the Angkorian era, are valued at around USD$3.8 million. It’s unclear where the statues were found, or when they were smuggled to the US, but reports say investigators in New York spent years working to recover the antiquities. Operations from Manhattan’s…
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Autopsy reveals heart attack killed woman who received AstraZeneca vaccine
A 46 year old Bangkok woman that died on Tuesday after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, died from a heart attack, says the autopsy. Dr Atthasit Dulamnuay says: The right atria of the woman’s heart was found to be ruptured, causing a haemorrhage of 180cc of blood and severe pulmonary oedema, in which excessive amounts of fluid builds up in the…
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Thai woman wants to sell her kidney to help with financial problems during Covid-19
A 64 year old Thai woman says she wants to sell her kidney to help her family with their financial problems brought on by the Covid-19. The woman from the central province Nakhon Pathom, just west of Bangkok, says that due to the disease control restrictions during the outbreak, she was forced to close her Chinese restaurant. Since then, she’s…
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Monk offers 10,000 baht reward for information that leads to turtle thief’s capture
A monk in Chon Buri, an eastern Thai province, is offering a 10,000 baht reward to anyone who helps return his stolen turtles. The monk says the turtles are ancient. The specific species of turtles has not been given. The turtles were allegedly stolen from the Samet Temple in Chon Buri and the abbot says the turtle stealers took between…
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2 men arrested in Kanchanaburi for allegedly smuggling in migrant workers over the last 2 days
Early this morning and yesterday night, 2 Thai nationals and over 28 Burmese have been arrested in Kanchanaburi, a province in western Thailand. The Thais were allegedly smuggling the migrants into Thailand so they could work in the country. The exact charges have not been specified. In the first bust: A combination of police, soldiers, and “volunteers” had stopped and…
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Thai Airways to offer international flights to 16 destinations next month
Starting next month until September, Thai Airways will offer international flights from Bangkok to 16 destinations including Tokyo, Osaka, London, Paris and Frankfurt. The airline’s chief commercial officer says there’s an increase in demand for air travel and they plan to increase flights later this year under its 2021 Winter Programme. The airline says it “prioritises hygiene excellence” and strictly…
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Alpha variant of Covid-19 makes up 9 in 10 infections
The Department of Medical Sciences confirmed today that nearly 90% of all Covid-19 infections in Thailand are from the newly-labelled Alpha variant. The strain, previously known as the UK variant as it was first identified in the United Kingdom, was found in 88.48% of 4,185 cases that university labs studied between April and June, with 3,703 infections of the Alpha…
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2 Chon Buri officials arrested for allegedly taking bribes
2 Chon Buri officials were arrested this week by anti-corruption police for allegedly taking bribes for a construction project. 67 year old Mr Payon, the chief executive of the Nong Hong subdistrict office, and the 51 year old head of engineering Mr. Boonmee from the same subdistrict, were arrested for allegedly taking bribes. Their full names were not provided to…
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