Bangkok News

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  • Bangkok smog: Oil refineries being asked to upgrade quality of diesel | Thaiger

    Bangkok smog: Oil refineries being asked to upgrade quality of diesel

    It won’t be a short-term solution but it is a worthwhile long-term part of the important changes that will have to be made. But nothing concrete yet. In yet another attempt to ease the health hazards posed by PM2.5 dust particles in Bangkok’s air, the Energy Business Department plans to hold a meeting with oil refineries this week about the…

  • Bangkok smog to hit Thailand in the tourism pocket | Thaiger

    Bangkok smog to hit Thailand in the tourism pocket

    Bangkok’s air pollution problems will take a hefty toll on the Thai economy unless authorities can effectively clear the city’s air and find some long-term solutions to smog. A Kasikorn Research Centre analysis says the smog could cost Thailand 6.6 billion baht in losses for the healthcare and tourism sectors due to the impact of air pollution. The analysis says…

  • Weather for January 16 | Thaiger

    Weather for January 16

    Bangkok Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. High 33ºC. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 30ºC. Winds ESE and variable. Phuket Afternoon showers. High 31ºC. Winds NNE and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Ko Samui Thundershowers. High 25ºC. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%. Pattaya Partly cloudy. High 32ºC.…

  • Smog settles in as a chronic Bangkok problem | Thaiger

    Smog settles in as a chronic Bangkok problem

    Air pollution? What air pollution!? Bangkok residents will have to put up with smog until early March, as high levels of PM2.5 particles settle over the capital for many more weeks, or months. Though pollution has become a cause of grave concern to citizens, relevant authorities are yet to introduce significant measures – let alone declare the capital a pollution-control…

  • Sex training guru Anastasia and Russian compatriots on trial today in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Sex training guru Anastasia and Russian compatriots on trial today in Bangkok

    The Belarusian model, who was originally charged with running ‘sex training’ courses in Pattaya, but later made sensational claims she had ‘dirt’ on Donald Trump, has appeared in a Bangkok court today. The story started with an arrest in Pattaya over sex training courses for Russians nearly a year ago, and ended up with allegations over Russian oligarchs and Russian…

  • Cloud seeding: Making fake rain in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Cloud seeding: Making fake rain in Bangkok

    In an effort to tackle the serious air pollution problem in Bangkok, the Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation plans to deploy rainmaking planes to seed clouds and create ‘fake’ rain (it’s actually real rain but induced artificially). “Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that…

  • World Health Organisation: More people killed by air pollution than by AIDS, malaria | Thaiger

    World Health Organisation: More people killed by air pollution than by AIDS, malaria

    by Pratch Rujivanarom Authorities are launching all-out efforts to battle persistent smog in Bangkok, as dust particles continued to blanket the capital. Meanwhile a WHO (World Health Organisation) report says air pollution kills more people than AIDS and malaria combined. Authorities have been including cleaning roads more often, spraying water into the sky, trying to produce artificial rain and enforcing…

  • BKK authorities short on solutions to smog *Thaiger Bites | Thaiger

    BKK authorities short on solutions to smog *Thaiger Bites

    By Jintamas Saksornchai Khaosod English is reporting today that authorities were scrambling to respond to worsening smog in the capital city. A government spokesman said junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered related agencies to inform people of the danger of ultrafine particles after Bangkok’s air quality this past weekend again fell to “unhealthy” levels. As of Monday morning, the international Air…

  • Thailand police trial mobile app to keep track of patrolling police | Thaiger

    Thailand police trial mobile app to keep track of patrolling police

    A new pilot project is being trialed in Bangkok by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to potential prevent some policemen who have found ways to skip their patrol work. Real-time tracking GPS (global positioning system) technology is being implemented via a smartphone application that must be downloaded by the officers who are assigned to conduct surveillance operations or regular patrols.…

  • Bangkok in the Top 10 cities in the world with the worst air pollution | Thaiger

    Bangkok in the Top 10 cities in the world with the worst air pollution

    Bangkok is placed Number 9 in the world’s top 10 cities with the worst air quality, Greenpeace Thailand was quoting the US air quality index measuring pollution floating around in the air we breathe. The Thai capital is not in good company. Thai PBS reports that, on top of the list, is New Delhi with 309 on US AQI, Dhaka in…

  • Bangkok’s air-pollution alarming, rain-making being considered | Thaiger

    Bangkok’s air-pollution alarming, rain-making being considered

    PHOTO: An eerie start to Sunday in Bangkok – The Nation Bangkok’s air pollution has reached dangerous levels for multiple days in the past few weeks. Today, air pollution in the greater Bangkok area was again threatening residents’ health. The amount of PM2.5 – airborne dust particles 2.5 microns in diameter or less – exceeded the safe level of 50…

  • Kids flock to Government House and Don Mueang – Children’s Day 2019 | Thaiger

    Kids flock to Government House and Don Mueang – Children’s Day 2019

    PHOTOS: The Nation An 11 year old girl from the St Francis Xavier School in Nonthaburi was the first student to sit on the prime minister’s seat at Government House on National Children’s Day. The Nation reports that officials allowed children to form a long queue at 7.30am to have an opportunity to sit on the seat of the most…

  • Air quality around Bangkok is bad today | Thaiger

    Air quality around Bangkok is bad today

    PHOTO: The Nation Bangkok’s air quality is safe again. Oh, now it’s unsafe again. Just a day after the air quality around Bangkok was declared safe, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) is blaming light winds and stale air for causing the poor air quality for Friday. PCD director-general Pralong Damrongthai says that air quality monitoring stations showed the amount of…

  • BMA introduces proper pavement stops for motorcycle taxis in Bangkok | Thaiger

    BMA introduces proper pavement stops for motorcycle taxis in Bangkok

    As Bangkok becomes busier, limited space for motorcycle taxi stands is becoming a critical problem with many of the crews taking up road space or spreading themselves randomly out around public pavement areas. The boys in the orange vests provide an important part of the Bangkok public transport mix but the BMA were getting many complaints. Now the BMA (Bangkok…

  • Police looking for Burmese driver after two alleged hit-and-runs in Pathum Thani | Thaiger

    Police looking for Burmese driver after two alleged hit-and-runs in Pathum Thani

    Police say they’re searching for a hit-and-run SUV driver, believed to be Burmese, who allegedly killed two people in separate incidents only 500 metres apart in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district. The incident happened in the early hours this morning. The first victim was identified as 40 year old Prasit Kladkhemphet from Chanthaburi. He was hit after he parked his pickup…

  • Saudi teen seeks asylum as Australian foreign minister visits Thailand – Thaiger Bites | Thaiger

    Saudi teen seeks asylum as Australian foreign minister visits Thailand – Thaiger Bites

    Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne is in Bangkok today after the Australian Government says it would consider giving asylum to the 18 year old Saudi woman who fled to Thailand from Kuwait, saying she feared her family, which she accused of abuse. Reuters reports that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun refused to meet her father and brother, who arrived in Bangkok yesterday…

  • Immigration police track down officer involved in re-entry stamp scam | Thaiger

    Immigration police track down officer involved in re-entry stamp scam

    PHOTO: Bangkok Post An immigration officer has been suspended without pay for allegedly permitting foreign travellers to do a re-entry without them having to actually leave the country. Immigration chief Surachate Hakparn says his department has identified the officer and have named him in Thai media. “The officer confessed to have provided entry stamps in return for 5,000 baht from…

  • Saudi woman refuses to meet her father | Thaiger

    Saudi woman refuses to meet her father

    PHOTO: Immigration chief Surachate Hakparn and other senior immigration police officers meet Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires in Bangkok. The 18 year old Saudi young woman who fled her family in Saudi Arabia has refused to meet her father. The father, who flew in today and is taking the evening flight back to Riyadh, met with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) officials…

  • Truck pulls down electric poll, damaging cars in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Truck pulls down electric poll, damaging cars in Bangkok

    A truck carrying an excavator accidentally pulled down an electricity pole in Bangkok this morning (Wednesday). The Nation reports that the truck , with an excavator loaded on its tray, got tangled on above-ground wires causing them to fall on top of the truck as well as two parked cars nearby. The accident, where no one was injured, disrupted electricity…

  • Saudi: Time to update 40 year old immigration laws – Surachete | Thaiger

    Saudi: Time to update 40 year old immigration laws – Surachete

    by Suriya Patatayo Immigration Chief Surachate Hakparn says he planned to update immigration laws that have been in force for at least 40 years. He says the Thai immigration police bureau are poised to issue a warning to Kuwait Airways for allowing Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun to board a flight to Bangkok, although they claim she had insufficient travel…

  • Thai prison staff sacked for collusion to murder, drugs and smuggling | Thaiger

    Thai prison staff sacked for collusion to murder, drugs and smuggling

    PHOTO: Getty Images Six prison officers have been dismissed by the Department of Corrections (DOC) following involvement in a varied and disturbing range of transgressions. Out of the six officers, one was arrested for charges of collusion to commit murder and has been sentenced to life in prison by the Supreme Court. Another was found connected to the smuggling of…

  • UPDATE: Saudi embassy in Bangkok distances itself from al-Qunun story | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Saudi embassy in Bangkok distances itself from al-Qunun story

    “Al-Qunun says she doesn’t want to meet with her father or brother.” The Thai immigration police chief yesterday met with Saudi Embassy officials in Bangkok as Saudi Arabia tried to distance itself from accusations that it tried to block a young woman trying to flee her family and seek asylum in Australia. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from…

  • Man shoots self at Bangkok bus stop. Sends message to friend and daughter. | Thaiger

    Man shoots self at Bangkok bus stop. Sends message to friend and daughter.

    PHOTO: The Nation The Min Buri police station was alerted to an apparent suicide at 3am today at a bus stop in Bangkok’s Bang Chan district. A man had shot himself at the Bangkok bus stop after sending Line messages to his friend and daughter. Police say 50 year old Pramote Iam-aram, a local factory worker, died inside the bus…

  • UPDATE: Father and brother traveling to Thailand to speak to Saudi 18 year old | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Father and brother traveling to Thailand to speak to Saudi 18 year old

    The father and brother of a the Saudi 18 year old, whose plea for asylum is making international headlines, are travelling to Thailand later today to give their accounts to the UN refugee agency, the Thai Immigration police chief said on Tuesday. But Immigration Chief, Surachet Hakparn says, if they wished to speak to Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, who ran away…

  • Superheroes and mega malls – The Thailand Tourism Forum 2019 | Thaiger

    Superheroes and mega malls – The Thailand Tourism Forum 2019

    Record attendance at Thailand’s largest annual hospitality event discovering how the tourism and transport sector is getting a massive makeover. The Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) returns for its eighth edition on January 21, 2019, with an agenda focusing on the mega-projects that are currently transforming the tourism landscape in Bangkok and beyond. Running under the theme “Managing Tourism – Ensuring…

  • Allegedly negligent bus driver fined 5,000 baht, six dead get 30K compensation | Thaiger

    Allegedly negligent bus driver fined 5,000 baht, six dead get 30K compensation

    Daily news has reported on the aftermath of a tour bus that crashed in Pathum Thani over the weekend. Pathum Thani is the province neighboring Bangkok to the west. As relatives of the six dead came to collect the bodies of their loved ones at Thammasat Chalermprakiat Hospital news arrived that the Department of Land Transport was likely to fine…

  • Saudi teenager allowed to stay in Thailand, for now | Thaiger

    Saudi teenager allowed to stay in Thailand, for now

    A Saudi teenager who flew to Thailand to escape her family in Kuwait will be allowed to stay in the country for now. Thai officials ended up in diplomatic hot water yesterday after government officials initially said they planned to deport a Saudi teenager who was stopped in Bangkok, en route to Australia to seek asylum, drawing objections from the…

  • UPDATE: Standoff at Suvarnabhumi – Thai Immigration reverse decision | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Standoff at Suvarnabhumi – Thai Immigration reverse decision

    Speaking at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport where Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun is refusing to board a flight back to her family that she fled in Saudi Arabi, Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn says now that Thailand has reversed it’s thinking on the matter and will not deport her against her will. “If deporting would result in her death we definitely won’t do…

  • Warnings issued after hydrogen-filled balloon explodes in car | Thaiger

    Warnings issued after hydrogen-filled balloon explodes in car

    A six year old boy has been engulfed in flames and seriously injured in a hydrogen balloon accident in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok. Three people were injured on January 2 when a single hydrogen-filled party balloon exploded inside a car. The incident has prompted the Disease Control Department (DCD) to issue a warning and guidelines for reducing the risk.…

  • Saudi teen fleeing family abuse seeking asylum in Australia, detained in Bangkok airport. | Thaiger

    Saudi teen fleeing family abuse seeking asylum in Australia, detained in Bangkok airport.

    PHOTO: Sophie McNeill (Twitter) A young Saudi woman is being held at Bangkok’s main international airport after she fled from her family and attempted to make it to Australia. The girl, 18 year old Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, was on a family holiday in Kuwait when she decided to run away. She was on her way to Australia but has been…